A popular Oxford restaurant was closed for several days after council officers found an infestation of mice and cockroaches.

Environmental health officers were sent to Café Rouge in Jericho after a diner spotted a mouse on the premises last Thursday night.

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

The environmental health officers issued the business with a hygiene emergency prohibition notice after finding the presence of 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 restaurant opened for business again today following “a lot of work” to satisfy environmental health inspectors.

Mr Forbes added: “We have given the all-clear to reopen. They have carried out a lot of work over the last four or five days. They have been very co-operative.”

A statement by Tragu, Café Rouge’s parent company, said: “We can confirm that our Café Rouge Oxford restaurant is now open for business. We strive to ensure the highest standards of food safety and service are undertaken.”

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.”

Ian Wright, health development service manager at the city council, said: “Safeguarding the health of the public is our number one priority.”

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