FOOD hygiene inspectors found three-week-old rat droppings at a Cardigan restaurant where they had “unrestricted access” to the food preparation and packaging areas, magistrates have heard.

An inspection of the Gulshan restaurant in Chancery Lane, which has since closed, found rat droppings and evidence of gnawing as well as several entry points for rodents into the restaurant.

Prosecutor Maggie Hughes said owner Rysul Asad had made an “amateurish” attempt to block entry by placing cardboard in holes that rodents were using to get into the restaurant.

As well as the rat droppings and signs of rodent activity, Ms Hughes said inspectors had also found that walls, light switches and the floor was dirty and had not been cleaned properly, with cleaning equipment also “encrusted with grime and dirt”.

Defence solicitor Alan Lewis said Asad, 42, accepted that he had “let his standards slip” when he was struggling to run the restaurant singlehandedly after finding it difficult to find staff.

Asad pleaded guilty to 10 breaches of food hygiene regulations discovered during the inspection on 12 September, 2017.

Ms Hughes said the inspection had found rat droppings at a variety of locations in the restaurant, including the meat preparation area, in a room used to store packaging for takeaway food and underneath a bag of onions.

There were also signs of gnawing for rodents at different areas, although Asad, of 5 Gloster Row, told inspectors that he hadn’t been aware that rodents had infested the restaurant, despite them finding that attempts had been made to plug holes with cardboard.

Ms Hughes said there was also significant dirt on walls, the floor and light switches in the restaurant, with Asad also admitting that after closing Gulshan he had taken over another restaurant without registering it with the council.

Mr Lewis said Asad had operated Gulshan for several years without any problems and had won several accolades and been awarded the highest food hygiene ratings previously.

He said that at the time of the inspection Asad had been operating the restaurant on his own after struggling to find staff and accepted that “things very much got on top of him” and that he hadn’t been carrying out detailed checks of the restaurant.

While Asad had contacted a pest control expert after seeing rats in nearby areas, he had not noticed that an infestation had taken place in the restaurant.

Mr Lewis said there was no evidence that rats had contaminated any food or that anyone had become ill from food, but Asad accepted there had been a risk.

Asad had been left “deeply embarrassed” about the problems at Gulshan and Mr Lewis said the closure of the restaurant was the “ultimate punishment”. But he said that Asad’s new restaurant, the Teifi Blue, was fully staffed and things were running much smoother there.

Asad was fined £1,532 and will pay council costs of £1,425 and a surcharge of £150.