A discount chain has been fined more than £34,000 after inspectors discovered a Dartford store infested with mice.

Dartford Borough Council prosecuted 99p Stores Limited after a visit by health inspectors to the branch in the Priory Shopping Centre in December 2009.

Health inspectors discovered a number of food safety regulations had been breached including a dirty storeroom and food handlers trained inadequately.

Mice were also found in the storeroom dead and alive.

The discovery led to the store to close while a deep clean took place as inspectors decided the conditions posed a serious risk to humans.

The chain pleaded guilty to five counts of breaching the Food Hygiene regulations and one charge of placing unsafe food on the market.

They were fined a total of £34,140 at Dartford Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday, March 9.