Caffè Nero: Council visit after rats filmed on Belfast coffee shop counter

The cafe, on Donegall Square West near Belfast City Hall, is one of five Caffè Nero outlets in the city centre

Belfast City Council says environmental health officers have visited a Belfast city centre café to ensure it was closed and to offer advice after a video was taken of rats on the counter.

It shows the rodents inside a branch of Caffè Nero in Donegall Square West, beside Belfast City Hall.

A Caffè Nero spokeswoman said the firm had begun an "urgent investigation".

The council said its officers also examined drains in the area on Wednesday morning.

The footage of the rats was obtained by the Belfast Telegraph.

It was filmed by a couple who spotted the rats as they passed the shop at about 01:30 BST on Tuesday, 7 July.

'Well-known brand'

The couple, who did not want to be named, said they were on their way home from a night out in the city centre and were "shocked" by the sight of rats inside the shop.

One of the pair, a 24-year-old man from Belfast, told the newspaper: "We couldn't get a taxi so we decided to walk through town to get to a taxi depot.

"It was out of the corner of my eye I noticed one rat on the floor and then eventually another one, and I watched them climb up the counter top and in behind the coffee machine. Then I started recording it.

"I couldn't believe it in such a well-known brand. I was quite shocked and stunned. That's why I started recording it, because I didn't think anyone would believe it," the man added.

'Isolated incident'

The coffee shop was closed on Wednesday morning, and a sign said the closure was due to "essential maintenance".

The cafe was closed on Wednesday morning

In a statement to the BBC, Caffè Nero's spokeswoman said: "Following this isolated incident, and in line with our industry leading practices, we have closed the affected store and launched a full and urgent investigation.

"We are working closely with Belfast City Council and relevant contractors to eradicate the source of the problem, which we believe to be a disused building adjacent to our store."

Belfast City Council said as well as visiting the premises, its officers also investigated "the integrity of the external drainage infrastructure in the area and were liaising with the management of the Scottish Provident Building who carried out immediate maintenance to the drainage".

It added: "There were no reports of any rodent activity in any of the food businesses.

"We understand that the video highlighted by the media was taken some weeks ago; instances of this nature are best reported to the council immediately in order for us take action in a timely manner."

Food hygiene inspections are the responsibility of local authorities in Northern Ireland, and the latest available inspection report for the Donegall Square West branch was carried out on 22 January this year.

The inspectors from Belfast City Council had awarded the coffee shop a food hygiene rating of four out of a maximum of five, meaning they considered the business to have a "good" rate of hygiene.

The Caffè Nero brand was founded in London in 1997 and specialises in Italian coffee.

The company now has a total of more than 600 stores in the UK, Turkey, Poland and Cyprus and the Middle East.

It operates from five locations in Belfast city centre.