A renowned Glasgow seafood restaurant was ordered to close this year by the council after conditions were said to pose an "imminent risk to health".

Crabshakk in Finnieston was issued with a hygiene emergency prohibition notice by Glasgow City Council after environmental health officers found evidence of a significant mice infestation on the premises.

The notice states that 'adequate procedures are not in place to control pests in that there is evidence of an infestation by mice, resulting in an imminent risk to health'.

The notice was issued on January 27 and the restaurant has since re-opened. 

Tom Jukes, general manager, said the business had dealt with a "perennial, city-wide" problem following essential building works and worked closely with council to ensure a satisfactory outcome.

Official figures show the council received 6656 reports of vermin sightings in 2021.

Council records obtained by The Herald show three other Glasgow restaurants have been issued with emergency closure notices over the past three years for pest control failures including two in the last month.

READ MORE: Rise in restaurant enforcement action in Glasgow for pest control failures

Tribeca in the Merchant City was ordered to shut on March 17 after mouse droppings were found "throughout the premises". The notice also states that  "chewed food with droppings in bread" was found.

The restaurant also breached other regulations which state that hot water must be available in sinks and hand basins.

Vietnamese restaurant Pho 79, which operates on Union Street in Glasgow city centre, was also issued with an emergency prohibition notice on March 9 of this year for an infestation of mice.

A spokeswoman for Glasgow City Council said:  “Officers from Environmental Health visited all four premises to carry out follow up inspections and the food business operators all demonstrated that they had taken sufficient measures to address the health risk and were cleared to re-open.”

The Shariz Shamin take-away in Glasgow's south side has not re-opened after it was ordered to close on December 12 2019.

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Restaurants which are issued with emergency prohibition notices must close immediately and display the notice at the premises prominently. They may be required to attend a court hearing.

Businesses may apply to the council for a certificate granting permission to re-open if they can provide proof that they acted to remove the health risk to the public.

If the local authority does not apply to a sheriff confirming enforcement action within five days of serving the notice, the business may be entitled to apply for compensation for loss of earnings. Owners may also be entitled to claim loss of revenue if the sheriff decides that there was no risk to public health.

A spokesman for Tribeca said the company had invested a significant amount of money to rectify the problem and said pest control had been in an issue for other units in the building.

Tom Jukes, General Manager at Crabshakk said: "The additional measures put in place are fully detailed in our regular pest control consultant reports and EHO will confirm their complete satisfaction with the outcome." 

Figures show the number of restaurants, cafes and takeaways rapped for environmental health concerns has risen in the past year.

Despite a significant reduction in the number of premises inspected over the pandemic, 36 Remedial Action Notices (RAN) have been issued since August, which can require premises to cease trading until improvements have been made.

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A significant number were related to pest activity in the premises.

While it is standard to prioritise high risk premises for checks, official documents show that during the COP26 climate conference efforts were focussed on venues likely to be used by delegates or those that were part of the supply chain.

Glasgow is facing a shortage of environmental health officers in common with other local authorities. The council said the two most recent attempts recruit had been unsuccessful.

Food safety checks were suspended in March 2020 as Covid restrictions forced the closure of many premises and environmental health officers were redirected to Covid enforcement and contact tracing roles.

While inspections were paused the number of food premises requesting inspections soared as more places diversified with take-away services.

A total of 134 inspections were carried out between April 1 2020 and July 2021, compared with 2434 the previous year. However, there were 3398 requests last year for inspections compared with 3060 the previous year.