A supermarket in one of London’s wealthiest areas has been forced to close for a week by a mouse infestation.
Local residents were left perplexed after the Sainsbury’s Local convenience store branch on Westbourne Grove, in well-heeled Bayswater, shut its doors last Tuesday.
This led to rumours of hygiene and infection problems at the store among local shoppers.
But today it emerged that the rodents had chosen the supermarket as their nesting spot forcing managers is take the decision to close it down immediately.
A spokesperson for Sainsbury’s said: “We’ve high standards for our stores so are obviously very concerned about this. We’ve taken immediate action to eradicate this isolated incident and are working with the authorities to get the store open for customers as soon as possible.”
A notice posted on the door by the council told customers that the shop was closed because of an “infestation.”
James Armitage, Westminster Council’s food health and safety manager, said: ‘We can confirm that a serious mouse infestation was found at the Sainsbury’s Local in Westbourne Grove.
“We took swift and decisive action to close down the premises in the interests of public health. We are working with the store to ensure that the problem is rectified as soon as possible.
“We expect that every business in Westminster maintains their service to a high standard and dirty conditions that are a threat to public safety are unacceptable.”
