A Nando's restaurant was closed after a rodent - believed to be a mouse - was spotted.

Thanet's Westwood Cross branch of the popular Portuguese-style chicken chain shut on February 6.

The restaurant initially claimed it was closed "due to technical issues".

But it has since emerged a rodent was seen inside the building, prompting the branch to shut for 10 days while a "deep clean" was carried out.

A Nando’s spokesman said: "We took the immediate step of the voluntary closure of our Thanet restaurant and have conducted a deep clean of all restaurant areas.

"The Thanet District Council environmental health officer confirmed over the weekend that the restaurant was ready to reopen, and we have been welcoming customers back since February 16.

"We take health and safety very seriously and pest issues in our restaurants are extremely rare.

"We are proud to say that 99.5% of our restaurants across the country have a rating of four or five under the Food Hygiene Scheme, and in fact, over 96.5% enjoy the highest rating possible.”

The Westwood Cross branch was last inspected in November 2018, when it received the top food hygiene rating of five.

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