AN upmarket wedding venue was infested with mice which were breeding in its kitchen, a court heard.

Environmental health inspectors found mice droppings inside cabinets and on sacks of food which had been chewed through at the Bolton Excellency Centre in Carlton Street during an inspection last March.

One inspector reported seeing baby mice jumping out of a box in the kitchen of the popular Asian wedding venue just days before an event was being held and catered for in March last year.

In addition, shelves, floor coverings, cupboards, baskets and containers used to store food and spices, a food preparation machine, cutlery and crockery were found to be in a dirty condition

The business and its owner Dr Mohammed Jaberansari, aged 56 of High Bank Lane, was found guilty of six counts of failing to comply with requirements for food premises after a trial at Bolton Magistrates’ Court.

Company director Taymure Khan, of Kinloch Drive, Heaton, was running the kitchen at the wedding venue and has already pleaded guilty to the same six counts.

In his defence, Jaberansari had tried to claim that Khan had been running an entirely separate business from the kitchen of the wedding venue in Carlton Street — which can cater for events of up to 1,800 guests.

But Magistrates agreed that as the owner of the business Jaberansari had overall responsibility for the state of the kitchen and the food being served to guests.

Prosecuting, Michelle Brown said: “During the inspection on March 10 last year, the officer very quickly identified that there was a mouse infestation at the premises, which carries significant risk of infection and bacteria.

“There were gnawed sacks of food, meaning the mice had access to food and he saw live mice that had obviously bred on the premises — with young mice discovered in a box.”

Bolton Council environmental officer Christopher Smith told the court how he had visited the premises several times prior to March 2015 and had offered guidance about cleaning and training before re-inspecting.

He said: “During the inspection there were a number of droppings on shelves and in cupboards where food and crockery was being stored.

“Large 25 gram sacks of rice and spices had been gnawed at and had droppings on.”

He added: “When my colleague brought a box down from the shelf there were a number of live mice inside which jumped out — it was quite an active infestation.”

Mr Smith felt the state of the kitchen caused an ‘imminent risk to public health’ and agreed with the owners of the venue for it to temporarily shut down on March 10.

It re-opened three days later after a follow-up inspection deemed the issues had been dealt with. Jaberansari and Khan will both be sentenced at Bolton Magistrates Court on October 10.