After fresh mouse droppings were discovered all over the kids’ playrooms, a childcare was fined £225,000.
Inspectors found the restrooms at Busy Bees in Whipps Cross Hospital in east London to be in need of improvement, without hot water, and lacking soap.
Following a routine health inspection in January 2022, they discovered droppings in the kitchen and next to a washbasin, and they also ordered a temporary shutdown.
Busy Bees has 390 branches and charges parents £400 a week, promising their children the ‘best start in life’ and ‘warm, nurturing environments’.
The firm pleaded guilty to two food safety and hygiene offences and was made to pay £15,092 in costs and a £190 victim surcharge on top of the near-quarter of a million pound fine.
It was also charged with failure to keep the premises clean and in good repair, and failure to put in place adequate procedures to control pests.
A Busy Bees spokesperson said: ‘Our actions included a thorough deep clean of the entire premises, including all equipment used within the nursery.
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‘We have made significant investment in the centre and in retraining staff to ensure all are fully up to speed with current hygiene best practice.’
Councillor Khevyn Limbajee said the findings were shocking, adding: ‘When parents entrust their children to attend a nursery, they do so in the belief that they will be left in a safe and clean environment.
‘Young children are particularly vulnerable to the diseases due to their developing immune systems.
‘The judge has rightly recognised the serious nature of the offences in this case through the imposition of such a significant penalty against Busy Bees Nurseries Limited.’