Two former Indian restaurant owners have been prosecuted by Gravesham council after environmental health officers found a serious infestation of mice.

Raja Manoharadhas, 30, and Sebin Sebastion, 28, pleaded guilty at Dartford magistrates court to three food hygiene offences.

The offences were committed at Currys and Dosa restaurant in Wrotham Road, Gravesend, which was closed down in March after the mice infestation was discovered.

Both men, from Zion Place, Gravesend, were ordered to pay the council’s full costs of £1,458 and each given 180 hours community service to be completed in the next 12 months.

They have to pay a £60 court surcharge and have been banned from managing food premises for a year.

The detailed charges were:

• Food premises not clean and not maintained in good repair and condition
• Premises' structural condition did not allow for good hygiene practices, including protection against contamination and, in particular, pest control
• There were no adequate procedures to prevent and control pests in places where food is prepared, handled or stored which would result in contamination.

The court heard that the restaurant had been praised by customers for its food but that the conditions the food was prepared and cooked in were 'shocking'.

The defendants were told that there was “no excuse for the conditions found” and that the amount of mouse droppings which were clearly visible was “totally unacceptable” in premises producing food.