A customer who spotted a rodent at Nando's in Romford is furious with the chain over how the situation was dealt with.

The man, who wishes to stay anonymous, spotted what he believed to be a "massive rat climbing up the back wall" of Nando's in Romford's Brewery shopping centre earlier this month.

Nando's has since said the rodent in question was a mouse, not a rat.

But the man claimed: "It looked very large to be a mouse. A mouse on steroids maybe."

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The customer was midway through ordering food for his family when he spotted the mouse.

He explained to the Recorder that he is more upset with the handling of the situation from Nando's than the presence of the animal in the first place.

“Instead of saying to customers in the restaurant that we need to shut this down for a bit, they carried on as normal.

"Customers were walking in and not being informed.

“I found it pathetic from a hygiene point of view."

Nandos is located on the first floor of The Brewery shopping centreNando's is located on the first floor of The Brewery shopping centre (Image: Google) The customer cancelled his order, left the restaurant and returned soon after to ask why customers were still being accepted and not being informed of the rodent sighting.

"I was informed that 'protocol says we don’t need to close down the restaurant'.

He found this "so shocking".

“They then offered me a £20 voucher as a goodwill gesture to entice me back to go there. I could not think of anything worse.

“Genuinely I would never ever step foot inside that restaurant again if it was the last place on earth."

Nando's, located on the first floor of the Brewery, has consistently held a five star food hygiene rating since 2019.

The chain confirmed that, following the rodent report, the premises were closed and underwent a thorough clean.

A Nandos spokesperson said: “The hygiene of our restaurants is a top priority and we’re sorry for any distress this caused. We’re working closely with the centre’s management and other businesses to tackle the issue.”

“I think restaurants need to be doing more", said the dissatisfied customer.

"If there is a rodent problem in the area then that’s one thing, but the most concerning thing here is the fact that when that rodent was seen in the restaurant, people weren’t told to leave.

“From a food safety and hygiene point of view, that is quite grotesque.”