Environmental health officers have closed Alnwick Tandoori on Clayport Street for the foreseeable future after it was discovered that food was exposed to rat droppings.

Alnwick magistrates yesterday granted a hygiene emergency prohibition order because of serious hygiene safety reasons.
Alnwick Tandoori is the first takeaway to be closed by Alnwick District Council on hygiene grounds.

Magistrates were told that complaints of a rat infestation at the shop were received by the council last Wednesday and an inspection was subsequently carried out by environmental health officers.

Rat droppings were found throughout the premises and the court was shown pictures from the inspection which included buckets of meat defrosting on the floor, uncovered, which were no more than two or three metres away from where faeces were found.
One picture showed a hole with fresh gnaw marks at the bottom of the side door.

Linden Dodds, the council's senior environmental health officer, told the court: "There are some cleanliness matters as well with regard to the storage area cleanliness and the structure of the premises, which wasn't as good as it should be. There is a long history and rats have been the final problem."
He added that conditions in the shop were unsanitary and rat droppings had not been cleaned up.

An emergency notice was served on the takeaway last Thursday but it was only valid for three days.
Neil Masson, assistant solicitor for the district council, said the infestation "involves injury to public health."
He added: "The order will stay in place until the owners have satisfied environmental health conditions."
If conditions are not met, the district council may take further action against the owners of the shop.