19 Jun 2015

McDonald's rodent-proofs mouse restaurant

3:14 pm on 19 June 2015

The fast food giant McDonald's is rodent-proofing one of its south Auckland restaurants, after a customer took a video of mice in the children's playground.

Posted on the social media site Facebook, the video showed mice running around the outside play area of McDonald's Manurewa outlet.

The customer called it "absolutely disgusting," and asked Facebook users, "How many can you count?"

McDonald's said the restaurant had taken several measures to address the issue, including bringing in an external pest control company, putting out bait, and mouse-proofing all internal and external doors.

It said it had a robust pest control management system, with all restaurants required to have an external pest control company visit once a month and report on the results.

The Auckland Council organised for inspectors to visit the restaurant today, after concerns about the vermin became public, and found no infestation of rats or mice.

It said deep cleaning would be undertaken underneath kitchen cooking areas, and the dry goods area as a precaution despite the fact no risk to food safety has been identified.

The Council said McDonald's is considering removing a large cabbage tree beside the building in case rats or mice are using it to get into the building via the rooftop.

The customer who videoed the mice posted a new message on Facebook in response to McDonald's efforts, saying she was "glad something has finally been done about it".

The playground is currently closed, but the fast-food outlet itself is open.

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