Welcome Break admits to rats

Motorway services operator Welcome Break has admitted that it has a rat problem at one of its service stations.

Last week a visitor to a Welcome Break motorway service area on the M11 noticed 30 rats near the entrance lobby.

A spokesman for Welcome Break said the company was aware of the situation.

He said: "We are working with the local council to try and sort this out.

"Obviously it is a problem we would rather not have, but we would say this is something many service stations have to deal with. None of the rats were inside the building."

The rats were seen in the early hours of Friday 20 October at the service station near Stansted, in Essex.

In August, restaurant critic Egon Ronay signed up with Welcome Break in a bid to help it improve its food (Caterer, 3 August, page 9).