A Tooting butcher's shop could face legal action after being forced to close for the second time in three months due to a mouse infestation.

Noor Halal Meat, trading as Bilal Halal Meat, in Upper Tooting Road, was shut down by Wandsworth Council food safety inspectors after they found 'a serious mouse infestation' and 'filthy food storage and preparation areas.'

During an inspection on October 30 this year, inspectors found mouse droppings on shelves as well as rodent droppings and urine stains on bags of rice.

The floor and chest freezer in the rear storeroom were covered in blood and the meat mincing machine was encrusted with food debris, a council spoesman said.

He said: “Fearing an imminent risk to public health, the inspectors ordered staff to close the shop immediately – before obtaining a court order the next day at Wimbledon Magistrates’ Court which ordered the owners to keep their doors closed to customers until emergency remedial works had been completed.”

After a deep clean and appropriate pest control measures had been put in place, the shop was permitted to re-open.

However a decision is now being made as to whether or not to take further legal action against the business and its owners, said the council spokesman.

The business was previously closed in August this year for similar reasons but was allowed to re-open after the imminent risk to public health was removed.

A Noor Halal Meat spokesman said the pest control inspector had visited the butcher’s shop yesterday (November 21) and said it was '100 per cent clean.'

He said: “The same guy also said you need to clean the shelf, and we also cleaning the shelf as well and the storage. We clean the store, the fridges, everything. We clean it up.

“We do everything cleaning, deep cleaning, at the closing time and in the morning time we check everything. I pay one guy extra for the cleaning.”

Cllr Jonathan Cook, the council’s consumer protection spokesman, said: “All food businesses in Wandsworth need to pay full and proper regard to hygiene levels in their shops. This is especially true of high risk premises like butcher’s shops.

“Those that imperil the health of their customers face stringent legal action and the prospect of heavy fines and court costs, never mind all the bad publicity these types of cases inevitably generate.”