A dead mouse discovered at a former London restaurant frequented by celebrities and royalty was among the atrocious conditions that led to the operator being fined more than £30,000.
New photographs showing the appalling unsanitary scenes at Beach Blanket Babylon have emerged after the former owner was convicted at court of a string of food hygiene offences.
Another image shows cockroaches in a kitchen area at the once upmarket townhouse and ballroom in Notting Hill, west London, which was also found to be infested with mice and rats.
Other hygiene breaches discovered by inspectors from Kensington and Chelsea Council included packets of till white seeds, cocoa powder and flaked almonds that had been gnawed by mice.
The now closed restaurant became a den of hygiene horrors despite the likes of Prince William and Kate, Prince Harry, Rita Ora, Selena Gomez and Naomi Campbell having been among the customers.
Conor George Thomson-Moore, 30, was ordered to pay a total of £31,000 for serious breaches of food and hygiene legislation.
The amount imposed at Westminster Magistrates’ Court included a £7,000 fine, £2,000 victim surcharge and the council’s legal costs of £22,000.
Thomson-Moore, who is no longer the owner, was also banned from operating a food business for 10 years under the Food Hygiene England Regulations at the hearing on June 16.
He had previously pleaded guilty to contamination of food with mouse droppings, poor cleaning, inadequate pest control procedures and failure to comply with a Hygiene Improvement Notice.
The prosecution was brought after inspectors found the breaches during a visit in September 2022, including droppings around the premises and food contaminated with mouse faeces.
A further visit in February 2023 found there was no hot water and further issues with pest control.
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Hygiene Improvement Notices were served but the food business operators failed to comply with one of the notices for lack of hot water to a wash hand basin.
The restaurant had marketed itself as a townhouse with a ballroom ‘serving beautiful British food and inspired cocktails from lunch till late.’
But one nearby cafe worker previously told Metro: ‘I never went there because I heard horrible things.
‘Apparently it was really dirty in there, like the back of house had rats and bugs, if it reopened I wouldn’t go in.’
Cllr Johnny Thalassites, lead member for environment and planning said: ‘Kensington and Chelsea is home to a vibrant and growing food scene, visited and enjoyed by many.
‘We support our local businesses, but we also take food safety seriously.
‘Our officers work with businesses to ensure high standards are maintained that our residents and visitors expect and deserve.
‘This prosecution shows our commitment to being a safe and fair borough and we won’t hesitate to act against those businesses who don’t play by the rules.’
Metro has attempted to contact Mr Thomson-Moore for comment.
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