A MOUSE infestation at an award-winning Ribble Valley tea room was the ‘worst ever seen’ according to environmental health investigators.

Sara Deborah Collinge, the former food business operator at Carmen Rose Tea Room, at The Barn, Church Street, in Ribchester, was fined almost £2,500 for five breaches of food hygiene regulations.

The team room, which is now under new ownership, was inspected by Ribble Valley Borough Council in early October 2009.

It found several failures to protect against food contamination, including:

*A chocolate cake in the tea room eaten by mice
*A loaf of bread with the cellophane gnawed by mice
*Droppings on surfaces used to handle food and in drawers used to store food
*Dirty wash basin and sink with droppings in it
*Shelves splattered with food deposits, the kitchen floor covered in food debris, dirty window sills
*An insectocutor overflowing with dead insects on top of the fridge.

Ms Collinge pleaded guilty at Hyndburn Magistrates to the five offences and was fined a total of £1,500 plus £950 costs to the council.

The Carmen Rose Tea Room achieved the Taste Lancashire’s Highest Quality Assured Accreditation for two years running up to 2009.

It has now been taken over by George and Pam Mayne, from Longridge, who opened last week after a ‘total refurbishment’ with a new menu.

Pam said: “We spent a whole week absolutely gutting the place and putting in a new stainless steel kitchen.

"It was disgusting, everything needed doing.”

The council’s environmental health manager James Russell said it was the worst case he had seen in his 34 years experience.

“We were deeply concerned to find these conditions.

"It was the worst pest infestation levels that I have seen.”

Mr Russell described ‘fresh and dry droppings in vast numbers’ and revealed a customer complaint the day before triggered the inspection.

He said: “We don’t prosecute for minor things, only when it is necessary to reflect the seriousness of what we find.”

However, Ms Collinge, 47, of Church Street, Ribchester, hit back at the council, accusing them of being ‘heavy-handed’.

She said: “I’m upset, bitter and angry. I’m absolutely furious with Ribble Valley Council.

"It is a barn in the middle of a field and we had a few mice come in, in the Autumn.

“We put poison and traps down, caught about 10 mice mostly upstairs in the office.

“I cannot deny we had mice in, but we were in the middle of dealing with it when the council decided it was an infestation and closed us down.

“We were given no help or support and when I realised they were prosecuting we decided to sell up.

"I pleaded guilty to get the matter sorted for the new owners.

“ I’m devastated we’ve lost the business we started from scratch.”