Mouse droppings cause temporary closure at two Wellington eateries

Unwanted critters was the biggest cause of cleaning and improvement notices being handed out at Wellington eateries over the past year. Photo / 123rf.com

Unwanted critters was the biggest cause of cleaning and improvement notices being handed out at Wellington eateries over the past year.

Fairfax sourced a list of restaurant and cafes that didn't make the cut in the 2015-16 financial year according to Wellington City Council health inspectors, and found eight cleaning notices and two closure notices were given out during that period.

The number is better than 2014-15, when the council handed out 17 cleaning notices and closed two restaurants in less than 24 hours, Fairfax reported.

The council said eight cleaning notices and two closure notices were issued in that time, which was better than 2014-15, when 17 cleaning notices were handed out, and two restaurants were closed for less than 24 hours.

Capital Market in Willis St was found to have cleanliness issues, mainly rodent-related, in 14 of the 22 premises in its food court, they reported.

It took the total number of actual businesses served with notices up to 21.

The two premises with serious enough issues to earn them closure notices were Jeff Cafe in the city and Leo's Seafoods in Newtown, however Jeff Cafe's closure notice was lifted the same day and Leo's Seafoods notice was lifted three days later.

In both cases, the problem was rodent droppings, Fairfax said.

City council public health team leader Andrew Taylor told Fairfax both owners acknowledged the problem and dealt with it swiftly.

Mouse droppings and cockroach carcasses were found in parts of Capital Market, but Taylor said management had been quick to clean the area and put in place a stricter pest control and monitoring problem.