Former Birmingham newsagents fined for being riddled with mice droppings
They were fined £1,000
A former Birmingham City Centre newsagents shop was riddled with mouse droppings and gnawed food, a court heard.
Environmental Health officers n the city discovered a ‘severe pest infestation’ at Newspoint in Link Street during an inspection on October 17, 2024.
Mouse droppings were found in a number of areas of the premises, including amongst food and drink on the shelves in the shop, Birmingham Magistrates’ Court was told at a hearing on Thursday, April 24.
At a previous hearing, Newspoint pleaded guilty to three charges which contravened the Food Safety and Hygiene (England) Regulations 2013.
One of them related to a failure to permit good food hygiene practices including protection against contamination and in particular pest control.
It said there were mouse droppings at the far end of the storeroom around the base of a soil pipe and on the floor amongst bottles of drink, mouse droppings on the floor in the rear lobby, mouse droppings on shelving under the serving counter, mouse droppings on the shelf behind sweets, mouse droppings between packets of sugar, on shelving behind tubes of crisps, mouse droppings in a box containing Alpen bars in the central aisle shelving next to a box of sesame snaps and there was a gnawed marshmallow biscuit on the floor.
Another charge related to a failure to ensure the shop was kept clean including sweets on shelving covered in dust and dirt. The last charge was due to the lack of a sink within the premises.
Mr Oladele Osinuga, prosecuting, said: “The council is of the view this severe pest infestation posed a health risk to members of the public.”
Adam Farrer, defending, said the shop ceased trading on July 8 last year when it’s lease expired following an unsuccessful negotiating period with the landlord for improved conditions.
He also said it was a small business which was barely profitable and faced high costs in the years before it finally closed.
Mr Farrer said the business sold packaged food, rather than fresh and open products.
He said the source of the mouse problem was in a loading bay at the rear of the shop which the business had no control over and was up to the landlords to sort out.
He said the issue was a ‘one-off failure’, which fell during the period it was negotiating with the landlord, and there had been no previous concerns.
And Mr Farrer said there had been no sink and running water facilities in the unit for 20 years and previous environmental health inspections had raised no concerns.
Magistrates fined the company £1,000 and ordered them to pay a £1,400 surcharge and prosecution costs of £1,600.