Inspectors close down kitchens at Britannia hotel

by Christina Golding

HEALTH inspectors stopped Birmingham's Britannia Hotel from preparing food in its kitchens last week, after an inspection last Wednesday which followed the sighting of a mouse.

The 195-bedroom hotel, which was fully booked at the time, was ordered to stop preparing food until measures had been taken to eliminate health risks. It continuedserving food to its guests by bringing it in from another hotel.

Richard Lodge, head of food safety at Birmingham City Council said: "An inspection revealed a situation that led us to believe there was an imminent risk to health."

He added that hotel managers were working with health officials to remedy the problem, but said he was unableto comment further for legal reasons.

Service to guests was not interrupted despite the temporary closure of the kitchens at the Birmingham hotel. All three kitchens have now re-opened.

At the time of the banmost of the hotel's guestswere US and internationaldelegates from the annual Lions Convention, whichwas held over four days at Birmingham's National Exhibition Centre.