Retailer fined £152,000 after mice found in Birmingham stores

Discount retailer Poundland must pay £152,000 after mice were found at two stores in Birmingham city centre.

The stores in Corporation Street and Martineau Place were temporarily closed by environmental officers in 2015 after they found mouse droppings and “gnawed” food products.

Officers found mouse droppings throughout the premises, as well as a gnawed Easter egg and dirty conditions, when they visited the Corporation Street store in February 2015. The store was closed and staff reported catching 17 mice over the weekend the store was shut.

Poundland blamed the extensive building works outside the Corporation Street store as a contributing factor, leading to increased pest activity.

However seven months later its store nearby, in Martineau Place, was also the subject of a complaint. Officers found mouse droppings throughout the premises and food packaging nibbled by mice, including several chocolate Father Christmas novelties, as well as dirty conditions.

The Willenhall-based retailer was prosecuted and pleaded guilty to eight food safety and hygiene offences at Birmingham Crown Court and was fined £134,000 with an additional £18,162 costs.