Diners and staff 'horrified' after mouse spotted at…

Diners and staff 'horrified' after mouse spotted at one of Manchester's most expensive restaurants

The sighting of a ‘rodent’ in one of Manchester’s swankiest restaurants last night has left one diner disgusted — and staff ‘horrified’.

The diner, who wishes to remain anonymous, was eating in the Australasia restaurant on Deansgate between 10pm and 10:30pm when he spotted the creature scuttling across the floor. He told the Manchester Evening News that it then ran under his booth, causing both him and the colleague he was eating with to leave their seats.

Now, management of Australasia have confirmed that there was a ‘mouse sighting’ — and promised to crack down on the pests. The council are also believed to have been alerted to the incident.

Bosses at Australasia, which has been awarded the highest possible hygiene rating by Manchester council, say the problem is being ‘handled with the urgency and importance it deserves'.

“We were just finishing dinner, and we saw, it was either a mouse or a rat — definitely a rodent — run across the dining room and under our booth,” the man told the M.E.N. . “We got up and spoke to the waitress, and she was horrified.

“You pay that much money and they can’t do the basics. I have reported it to the council agency and it will take 15 days to act on it.

“If you were going to eat there today, you would like to know that. You cannot deal completely with a pest problem in a couple of hours the next morning.”

Australasia, which specialises in food which ‘combines Pacific Rim flavours underpinned by European cooking tradition’, prices its large plates from £16 to £55. Its Christmas Menu will set guests back £52.50 per head for five ‘waves’ of food.

It is also a favourite of some of the city's most well-known individuals, from influencers to footballers. Currently, the restaurant has a five-star food hygiene rating, with its last inspection taking place at the end of January this year.

Some of the food diners can expect to enjoy inside (Collect)

Bosses at Living Ventures, which owns the upmarket eatery, say the problem is related to extensive construction work above their building. A statement from Group MD, Paul Moran, said: “We are aware of an incident regarding the sighting of a mouse in Australasia on the evening of September 20, as reported to us and to you by one of our guests. Unfortunately, there is extensive structural building work taking place in the vacant site directly above Australasia and it appears to have caused disruption to the building’s rodent control proofing.

“This is an issue as you would expect that we monitor incredibly closely and following a visit from our third party professional pest control service the next morning, the damaged entry point has been identified and proofed to prevent further issues. The most recent visit on September 12 confirmed no issues and as of this morning they have confirmed that the restaurant is absolutely up to standard in terms of health and safety regulations.

“I would like to take this opportunity to assure you that this is an unfortunate, yet isolated incident and I am confident that our hard working team have handled it with the urgency and importance it deserves.”

The M.E.N. understands that the mouse found its way through a gap in the wooden flooring above the restaurant, which has since been boarded up. It’s thought that visits by contractors to check on pest problems will be held more often.