A HOTEL has been fined £2,500 for having a mice-infested kitchen. Mice droppings were found on shelves, in packs of food and under cookers and workstations at Leavers Manor Hotel at Goose Green, Hadlow, near Tonbridge.

Its owners, London-based C Q K Ltd, were also ordered to pay £652 costs at Tunbridge Wells Magistrates Court after pleading guilty to failing to ensure proper procedures were in place to control pests.

The infestation was discovered during a visit by an officer from Tonbridge and Malling Council's environmental services in early December. The court was told that environmental health officers also found an old bait box, indicating attempts had been made to tackle the problem, but no treatment had been carried out since last summer.

The owners agreed to close the kitchen after the inspection and called in a pest controller.

Cllr David Lettington (Lib Dem), the council's cabinet member for environmental health, said: "Unfortunately, this is an example of what can go wrong when premises that serve food to the public are not scrupulous about food hygiene.

"In the end, the problem was dealt with quickly by professionals, who should have been called in at the first sign of trouble."

The hotel reopened after a further inspection in late December.