Mum's McFury after rat bite at restaurant

Adam Hewitt • Last updated 28 Aug 2008 11:24 1 Comment

A GIRL was bitten by a rat outside a McDonald's restaurant as more than 20 of the creatures scurried around her feet.

Twelve-year-old Amber Wagstaff was with her mum after dropping her older sister Sophie off at Reading Festival on Thursday night when the rat attacked.

They had stopped off at the McDonald's at Reading Gate Retail Park, near the Madejski Stadium, at around 8.30pm, and ate their meals in their car parked outside.

Mum Tracy Wagstaff, from Weybridge, Surrey, said: "When Amber went to put her rubbish in the bin she got bitten by a rat.

"I didn't believe it at first, I thought maybe she had caught herself on the lid, but then three rats ran out of a bag on the floor - they looked a foot long, I thought they were cats.

"Her finger was bleeding, and as I tried to calm her down in the car, we saw 20 or 30 rats scurrying across the car park. People had been throwing their bags out of their windows and it was really infested, the rats were running in and out of the bags."

Mrs Wagstaff did first aid using antiseptic wipes and cream and then phoned Royal Berkshire Hospital for advice. A nurse said to check that the finger did not swell up or change colour, but that Amber should be safe from most diseases because she had recently had vaccine jabs for a trip to Dubai. Mrs Wagstaff added: "People see rats near the bins and so don't use the bins, making the problem even worse. The staff there clearly know there's a rat problem, because they had three boxes outside the building saying 'Poison, do not touch'.

"Considering the amount of money McDonald's makes, I think the public will be absolutely disgusted that they don't clear up something like that, just to pick up the rubbish and prevent infestation.

"My daughter loves the food, but she's said she never wants to go near a McDonald's again."

McDonald's spokesman Calum Gillies said the incident was being investigated.

He added: "Hygiene and safety is a priority for our restaurants and our records indicate that there is no significant issue with rats on this McDonald's site.

"We do, however, acknowledge that there is a problem with rats within the wider retail park and that all retailers based on the site should work together to try and solve this problem.

"We also currently undertake daytime litter patrols at this site every 60 mins throughout our car park, once every day throughout the entire retail park and our Hygiene and Safety team will continue to monitor the situation to ensure that the problem does not spread to our site."

The council confirmed that other complaints had been made about rats throughout the retail park, but spokeswoman Sarah Bishton said environmental health teams only checked food premises, not car parks.

Miss Bishton added: "The team is also working with the food business owners in the area to manage the rat population directly outside the premises.

"However, the cleanliness and hygiene of the outside of a building is ultimately the responsibility of the owners."

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This article appeared in Reading Chronicle 28 Aug 08

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