An award-winning curry restaurant was taken to court after rat droppings were found in the kitchen.

Pictures shown to Oxford Magistrates’ Court on Friday and subsequently released to the press by the district council showed the rodent excrement on top of what appeared to be a takeaway food box at Masooms in Wantage.

Owner Masum Miah, 41, pleaded guilty to 10 breaches of food hygiene regulation breaches at the Wallingford Street restaurant, which in 2018 won a national Euro Asia Curry award.

The Vale of White Horse District Council, which brought the case, said there were inadequate pest control procedures in place and ‘significant evidence of rat activity’. Animal droppings were found in the storeroom and kitchen.

This is Oxfordshire: Evidence of rat droppings at Masooms restaurant, Wantage Picture: Vale of White Horse District CouncilEvidence of rat droppings at Masooms restaurant, Wantage Picture: Vale of White Horse District Council (Image: VOWHDC)

This is Oxfordshire: Evidence of rat droppings in Masooms, Wantage Picture: Vale of White Horse District CouncilEvidence of rat droppings in Masooms, Wantage Picture: Vale of White Horse District Council (Image: VOWHDC)

Health and safety inspectors said a gap under the rear door and in the storeroom ceiling risked allowing pests to get into the building. The back door was being propped open – despite staff being told to keep it closed – and was ‘heavily gnawed’.

There was no hot water supply to the washbasin in the toilet, and the business failed to ensure there was hot water for cleaning utensils and equipment.

This is Oxfordshire: Surfaces at Masooms, Wantage, were described as grimy Picture: Vale of White Horse District CouncilSurfaces at Masooms, Wantage, were described as grimy Picture: Vale of White Horse District Council (Image: VOWHDC)

This is Oxfordshire: Food was left out in the store room at Masooms, Wantage Picture: Vale of White Horse District CouncilFood was left out in the store room at Masooms, Wantage Picture: Vale of White Horse District Council (Image: VOWHDC)

Staff failed to ensure that the restaurant was kept clean and in good repair. The council said there was ‘dirt, food debris and grease’ on the floor, around equipment and on what were described as hand and food surfaces.

Mitigating, Leanne Ballato told the court that Miah had done what he could to address the issues at the restaurant.

“He accepts he was in the wrong and he needs to do better,” she said.

The restaurant had gone from a zero hygiene rating last summer to a three star, 'generally satisfactory', score today. 

District Judge Kamlesh Rana adjourned sentencing until November 17 for the preparation of probation reports and for the business accounts to be served on the court.

The judge warned: “Custody is a serious consideration.”