Rat bite: Salisbury McDonald's overdue an inspection

McDonald's says the incident, in which a customer was bitten by a rat in the restaurant, is unrelated to the upcoming inspection, which has been delayed partly due to Covid-19.

The incident happened at the fast-food chain's Petersfinger restaurant, on Southampton Road, which is next to a ditch littered with rubbish and stagnant water.

A woman was bitten by the rat and taken to A&E for a tetanus injection.

Read more: Rat bites woman in Southampton Road McDonald's in Salisbury

Wiltshire Council hadn't received any complaints about the incident but were aware of what happened at the Salisbury branch.

Councillor Ian Blair-Pilling, cabinet member for public protection, said: "Rodents are known to inhabit the natural environment near Southampton Road and the businesses along there have their own pest control contracts to keep rodents at bay. 

"The McDonald's store on Southampton Road is a relatively new branch. It is due for inspection and its controls will be reviewed.”

Stagnant water in the ditch between McDonald's and Tesco

A McDonald's spokesperson said: "Hygiene and cleanliness is of the utmost importance to us. Pest control experts carry out regular inspections of our sites.

"After the incident our team carried out a sanitation process and the external pest control experts carried out a precautionary inspection."

Litter including a Happy Meal box and drink cans in the ditch

The Salisbury Journal asked McDonald's for CCTV footage of the incident, which it confirmed to hold, but declined the request.

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