The owners of a filthy restaurant kitchen where inspectors discovered a live pigeon perched on a freezer have been handed a hefty fine.

Food safety inspectors from Lambeth Council immediately closed down the kitchen, on the Mahatma Gandhi Industrial Estate, in Milkwood Road, Herne Hill, after finding the feathery animal.

They also uncovered cockroaches, mice droppings and open bags of flour contaminated with dirty water during the inspection, on May 10 last year.

The grease-ridden kitchen, which supplied food to a restaurant in Peckham, has since re-opened but owners Evelyn and Michael Azu were given a £4,000 fine for breaching food safety regulations.

They were also ordered to pay the council full costs of more than £2,300 in the hearing at Camberwell Green Magistrates’ Court, on May 4.

James Stradling, investigating officer for the council’s food safety team, said: "The place was filthy and the fact that a live pigeon was able to get into an area where food was being stored should have obviously set alarms bells off to staff.

"It was clear the kitchen had not been cleaned properly for some time. 

"There was a serious risk to health as pigeons can carry pathogenic bacteria that can make people very ill."

Councillor Jack Hopkins, cabinet member for public protection, added: “Businesses which serve food to the public have a fundamental responsibility to make sure the food they prepare is safe.

“There was no excuse for the frankly shocking conditions found in this kitchen and without swift intervention from our food safety team people could have been made very ill.”