{"id":523551,"date":"2025-10-24T01:31:14","date_gmt":"2025-10-24T01:31:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/523551\/"},"modified":"2025-10-24T01:31:14","modified_gmt":"2025-10-24T01:31:14","slug":"first-photos-of-grossly-contaminated-takeaway-covered-in-rat-droppings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/523551\/","title":{"rendered":"First photos of ‘grossly contaminated’ takeaway covered in rat droppings"},"content":{"rendered":"

The takeaway changed ownership in July 2025 and the new owners are not linked to its recent prosecution\"RatRat droppings and other objects found during food hygiene inspection at Star Noodle takeaway November 2024(Image: Knowsley Council)<\/p>\n

Photos of a \u201cgrossly contaminated\u201d takeaway in Huyton show the kitchen covered in dirt, grease and rat droppings evident throughout the property. Earlier this month, the Liverpool ECHO<\/a> reported on the Knowsley Council\u2019s successful prosecution<\/a> of Star Noodle.<\/p>\n

Mei Ling Wang is the director of a company which previously operated Star Noodle in Huyton<\/a> Village, and she pleaded guilty at Liverpool Magistrates\u2019 Court (October 2) to six charges of breaching food safety regulations. Ms Wang was ordered to pay more than \u00a34,000 in legal costs and fines.<\/p>\n

The takeaway changed ownership in July and the new owners are not linked to the prosecution or any food hygiene breaches.<\/p>\n

\"RatRat droppings and other objects found during food hygiene inspection at Star Noodle takeaway November 2024(Image: Knowsley Council)<\/p>\n

Shortly before the verdict, the ECHO<\/a> submitted a Freedom of Information request to Knowsley<\/a> Council to examine the details behind those breaches and can now reveal exactly why the business was closed down under its previous ownership.<\/p>\n

An inspection carried out by environmental health officers on November 20 last year, found evidence of \u201crat activity\u201d which posed an \u201cimminent risk\u201d to public health.<\/p>\n

The subsequent report noted the former owners of Star Noodle voluntarily agreed to close down instead of being formally closed by means of a \u201chygiene emergency prohibition notice\u201d.<\/p>\n

The reports stated: \u201cRat droppings were found throughout the food business including the front of house area, kitchen and upstairs areas.<\/p>\n

\"RatRat droppings and other objects found during food hygiene inspection at Star Noodle takeaway November 2024(Image: Knowsley Council)<\/p>\n

\u201cThe standard of cleaning in the kitchen was extremely poor. Some areas were grossly contaminated with grease, dirt, and detritus, which is likely to attract and encourage pests to the food business.<\/p>\n

\u201cAreas were extremely cluttered with disused items and waste which made it difficult to effectively monitor for pest activity. This waste is likely to also provide harbourage for pests.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe business has failed to put in place adequate procedures to control pests. The building contains numerous gaps and holes which could allow pests to enter the premises and then move within the building.\u201d<\/p>\n

The investigation carried out by environmental health officers, found that inadequate precautions had been put in place to control pests and that the building had not been properly maintained.<\/p>\n

\"StarStar Noodle restaurant in Huyton Village in 2019(Image: Liverpool ECHO)<\/p>\n

As a result of the successful prosecution, Ms Wang was fined \u00a31,382 \u2013 reduced to \u00a3983 due a guilty plea \u2013 and was ordered to pay \u00a32,744.60 towards the council\u2019s costs.<\/p>\n

At the time, Cllr Shelley Powell, cabinet member for communities and neighbourhoods, said: \u201cWe will continue to identify and take action against any businesses who breaches food safety legislation.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u201cIt\u2019s there to protect the public and it\u2019s our responsibility to enforce it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The takeaway changed ownership in July 2025 and the new owners are not linked to its recent prosecutionRat…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":523552,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8815],"tags":[748,393,55397,4884,16552,41030,179,27654,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-523551","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-liverpool","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-england","10":"tag-food-hygiene","11":"tag-great-britain","12":"tag-huyton","13":"tag-knowsley-council","14":"tag-liverpool","15":"tag-takeaway","16":"tag-uk","17":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/523551","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=523551"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/523551\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/523552"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=523551"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=523551"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=523551"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}