Rat infestation found at long-standing restaurant near Northampton before summer closure
A rat infestation was found at a long-standing restaurant near Northampton before it closed this summer.
Council officers found evidence of a widespread rat and mouse infestation at The Turnpike Beefeater, including droppings on a breakfast toaster and near glasses used to serve customers.
The restaurant in Harpole was given a zero food hygiene rating after a West Northamptonshire Council inspection on January 30, 2026, prompted by a complaint alleging rats had been seen inside.
Documents about the inspection were released to this newspaper following a Freedom of Information request.
The council said the visit uncovered a ‘serious and widespread ongoing rodent infestation’. A voluntary closure was agreed during the inspection.
The report said: “A rat dropping was found on top of the toaster in the breakfast cupboard. This presents both a physical and microbial contamination risk.”
The officer also found mouse droppings on open shelving in the bar area, where glasses were stored.
The letter said: “Despite this pest activity, customers were continuing to be served drinks using glasses stored on open shelves in the bar area.”
It added: “The premises continued to use these items without any measures implemented to protect them from contamination and therefore they were at risk of contamination from the pests.”
Droppings were also found in the dry store, behind the breakfast cupboard and under customer seating.
The report said a rat was active above the suspended ceiling in the conference room on January 6. A dead rat was removed from the ceiling on January 12, mice were recorded around the bar on January 25, and rats were active on January 28.
The restaurant’s ‘daily pest walk checklist’ recorded a mouse running in the bar after hours on January 24 and a rat running down the bar at 3.45pm the following day.
The council said management and staff had known about rodent activity since January 6, more than three weeks before the inspection.
The officer wrote: “No attempt had been made to contact the local authority, and you continued to serve customers despite the ongoing and worsening situation.”
The checklist recorded “N” against the question asking whether live or dead pests were present on January 30.
However, the officer said: “I visited on this day at 2.10pm and found a significant number of rodent droppings in various places across the premises.”
The letter added: “It appears that management and staff did not recognise the serious risks that were presented from the ongoing and widespread infestation within the premises.”
The restaurant agreed to close voluntarily following the inspection. An officer revisited on March 3 and lifted the closure after work had been carried out and monitoring controls introduced.
The zero food hygiene rating was based on the January inspection, although the council acknowledged that pest-control work had taken place since.
Parent company Whitbread announced plans on April 30 to exit its remaining Beefeater and Brewers Fayre restaurants as part of a shift towards hotels.
The Chronicle & Echo reported in May that The Turnpike’s future was uncertain. The restaurant closed during the summer.
The council’s documents do not establish that the hygiene findings were responsible for the later closure.
Whitbread was contacted for comment on October 23 but had not responded by the time of publication.
The former Turnpike site remains vacant.