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'Filthy' TGI Friday's fined £30,000 for mice and cockroaches in diner
Paul Cheston, Courts Correspondent27.08.09
The TGI Friday's chain has been fined £30,000 after its flagship restaurant became a "breeding ground" for rodents.
Environmental health officers shut down the American-style diner in Bedford Place, Covent Garden, after customers complained of mice scuttling around while they ate.
The restaurant was littered with mice droppings, had dead cockroaches in the kitchen and was congealed in grease, City of Westminster magistrates' court heard.
Prosecutor Felicia Davy said the restaurant, one of 45 owned by the company, was inspected on 2 July last year. It was closed for six days but was allowed to reopen after a £66,000 clean-up.
A follow-up investigation by Westminster council revealed company pest control reports showed that staff had been aware of the problem for more than a year but had not taken action.
Ms Davy said: "The floors and the kitchen were filthy and a pile of cockroaches was found in a drawer. It was clearly a breeding ground for rodents."
The company admitted six charges of breaching food hygiene laws.
TGI's representative Craig Baylis told the court the incident was a one-off and that steps had been taken to improve conditions.
Reader views (9)
The staff of this place should have all been sacked. It seems they all knew about the mice problem and did nothing.
I certainly wont be going in there again and will be circulating leaflets about this disgraceful place.
- Harry Palmer, kindon
I wondered what the crunchy bits were.
ooooooooooooooh
MR PASTRY
- Mr Pastry, london
There were mice skuttling around the restaurant when I went 15 years ago. Refused to pay the bill point blank. Never been back since. This recent breach comes as no surprise. The only shock is that they have got away with it for so long.
- Joe, london
I am a regular visiter to TGI Fridays across the north, very reasonable prices and never had a problem with the cleanliness....it my opinion this truely is a one off.
Clive, the fajitas dont even cost that now and mike i dont know about recession...that place is usually buzzing!!
- Junior, Leeds
I went to a TGI's and had a really good time!!!! Just because 1 store was not looked after doesn't mean all the stores are like that.
- Good Gemma, England
I hope and think this is a one off i eat at the branches in Cardiff and Bristol all the time and the standards there are really high you can see the kitchen from the restaurant and it always looks spotless and i have never had a bad meal.
- James Morgan, bristol
i dont know why they cannot afford proper cleaning . their prices are a complete rip-off . the last time i went was probably about 15 years ago (1993-4) , and even then fajitas were £14 , and nothing to write home about !
- Clive, london
Try going to the one at Heathrow Airport - disgusting. Dirty, useless staff, food was warmed up frozen stuff, really awful. never again and that means all TGI's
- Tr, London, UK
Recession leads to cost-cutting leads to less cleaning leads to rodents.
- Tango Mike, Kensington, London
