A popular Oxford restaurant has been closed after council officers found a heavy infestation of mice and cockroaches.

Environmental health officers were sent to Café Rouge in Little Clarendon Street after a diner spotted a mouse on the premises on Thursday.

The venue, which is part of a chain of more than 100 restaurants across Britain, was shut down by Oxford City Council the following day.

Environmental health officers issued the business with a ‘hygiene emergency prohibition notice’ after finding mice and cockroaches.

Andy Forbes, who led the investigation, said: “The customer spotted the mouse on Thursday night and made the complaint to us on Friday morning.

“We went round there that afternoon and carried out an inspection, and took the decision to close it.

“We found evidence of a heavy infestation of mice and there were holes all over the place where mice had been getting through.

“There were also lots of adult cockroaches which indicates a long-standing problem.

“Café Rouge hadn’t acted upon its pest control company’s recommendations and as a result conditions had deteriorated to a level where we considered there to be an imminent risk to health.”

The council has applied to Oxford Magistrates’ Court for a full prohibition order on the restaurant.

A hearing is set to take place on Friday.

The premises will remain closed until environmental health officers are satisfied the risks to health have been removed.

Café Rouge area manager Frederic Lluch said: “I can confirm we have launched an investigation following a complaint from a customer. We are confident it is an isolated incident.”

Asked whether he was confident the restaurant would reopen soon he replied: “Totally.”

Café Rouge is the fourth food business to be closed down by the food safety team in the past 12 months.

The Oisi Master Sushi Bar and JM Halal, both in East Oxford, and the Al-Shami restaurant in Jericho were all closed after inspections found conditions to be unacceptable.

Ian Wright, health development service manager at the council, said: “Safeguarding the health of the public is our number one priority and we will always take the necessary action to ensure people are not put at risk.”

“The council’s food inspectors are now checking other businesses in the area to ensure they have not been affected by mice and cockroaches.”