A local supermarket in one of the UK’s largest cities has been ordered to pay a fine after a mouse and cockroaches were discovered on the premises. S&D Supermarket on Soho Road in Handsworth, Birmingham, has been ordered to pay £24,000 by the city council’s environmental health department. A report revealed that rodent droppings were discovered on the shelves in the store.
Meanwhile, a live mouse and cockroaches were found in the store’s crisps section. The report added that there was extremely poor pest proofing throughout the shop, and it was generally unclean. It was also found not to be registered with Birmingham City Council, so there was no food safety plan in place. The firm that owns the shop has been ordered to pay £20,000 with nearly £400 in costs.
At Birmingham Magistrates Court on October 30, 2025, Inventure Soho Road Ltd, based at Foleshill Road, Coventry, pleaded guilty to five offences in relation to the condition of the store under the Food Safety and Hygiene (England) Regulations 2013.
The result and details of the charge were then published in a Birmingham City Council report to a licensing and public protection committee on January 14.
“The premises was not kept clean and cleaning procedures were extremely poor, pest proofing was also extremely poor and the structure of the premises was unsuitable allowing access to pests,” the report reads.
“A live mouse was located in the crisp section along with live cockroaches. Articles, fittings and equipment which came into contact with food were not kept in good repair and condition in that retail shelving throughout the store was contaminated with rodent droppings.”
It adds: “There were no permanent procedures in place based on HACCP principles. The business was not registered with Birmingham City Council.”
Manager Sanjay Patel told Birmingham Live that staff had taken responsibility and carried out a renovation, and it was now rated four stars.
“We are the new owners and took over in 2024. We were closed down by the council on August 30 because there was pest activity, and we reopened on September 1,” he said.
“We pleaded guilty on October 30. There was an open drainage under the freezer area and we have sealed that off. We’ve done building work and we’ve put new fridge freezers and shelves. There has been no issue and we are good.”
