- A plague of cockroaches has caused the closure of a motorway service area on the M40
- Four units at Welcome Break Junction Eight were forced to cease trading
- Environmental health officers conducted an investigation following a complaint last month
A plague of cockroaches has caused a motorway service area on the M40 to be closed by health officials.
Four units at Welcome Break’s main services near Oxford were forced to close immediately, including KFC and Starbucks.
A criminal investigation is underway into violations related to food hygiene in a place used by thousands of drivers and their passengers every day.
South Oxfordshire County Council today described it as a ‘significant’ cockroach infestation, which has also forced The Good Breakfast and Chopstix to close.
Environmental protection officers conducted an emergency investigation after a citizen complained.
Evidence of a cockroach infestation was found in food preparation areas and point of sale servers which posed a ‘significant risk of food contamination and an immediate risk to the health of customers’.
Four businesses at the site, off Junction Eight near Wheatley, will remain closed until officials say the health risk has been removed.
On Friday, May 31, during a hearing at Oxford Magistrates’ Court, District Judge Rana reviewed the evidence and statements made by officers and on May 20 confirmed the imminent danger to health and was satisfied that the danger to health continued.
A judge granted an emergency hygiene ban and awarded full costs of just over £3,000 to South Oxfordshire County Council.
Officers work with businesses and monitor these and other units on location.
Paul Fielding, Head of Housing and Environment at South Oxfordshire County Council, said: ‘When we received the first complaint, our Environmental Health Officers took immediate action and carried out an investigation at Welcome Break Services and served an Emergency Hygiene Prohibition Notice requiring a temporary closure of affected businesses.
‘The outbreak posed a significant risk of contamination and a serious risk to public health and I am pleased that the District Judge has now approved the action taken by our officers.
‘Our officers will continue to carry out regular inspections to protect public health.
‘They are also working with Welcome Break to resolve the issue and are supporting their efforts to reopen the affected units as soon as possible.’
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Pest experts say record numbers of cockroaches are beginning to invade homes, crawling across bedroom floors and under sofas in living rooms.
‘Cockroaches’ do not bite people and will not cause any physical harm, but they are a threat to health because they spread infection.
A mild British winter and spring with plenty of rain was perfect weather for the insects.
Specialist pest experts are warning there will be a record invasion – and an infestation could set you back up to £260.
Although there are more than 4,000 species of cockroach on the planet, two are the most prominent in the UK, according to Bedford-based insect extermination company EWS Group – the Oriental cockroach and the German cockroach.
You may also encounter the American cockroach and the brown cockroach.
In 2022, students at Oxford University’s nearby Exeter College threatened a ‘rent strike’ over an infestation of unsightly insects in their bedrooms.
Students in the Cohen Quadrangle area of Oxford’s fourth-oldest college were ‘appalled and disappointed’ by an infestation of cockroaches in two shared kitchens and bedrooms.
Staff told newcomers that the first and second floors would be closed for several days during the refresher week for maintenance work.
They added that due to an ‘unforeseen maintenance issue’, both kitchens will not be open until October 17 at the earliest – leaving as many as 90 students sharing a cooking space on the third floor.
Exeter College offered 60 percent off both the Dakota Cafe in Cohen Quadrangle and the center’s main dining hall.
When the students kept seeing bugs, the heads of the faculty admitted that the problem was an infestation of cockroaches in the ventilation openings of the kitchen on the first and second floors.
The statement called on them to ensure that «rubbish bins are emptied frequently and food is not left uncovered overnight».