Mouse droppings were found next to spoons, knives, cups and cling film as well as boxes of biscuits and coffee that was about to be used, London's City of Westminster magistrates heard.

When inspecting the Starbucks branch in Villiers Street, an environmental health officer was hit by what was described as a "strong smell of mice" and recurring scenes of filth, stains and mouse droppings during an inspection last November.

In the storeroom, one mousetrap "appeared to be weighty and may have had a mouse in it" and the mouse had left "greasy smears", Felicia Davy, representing Westminster Council, told the court.

"Upon closer inspection, a set of shelves against the wall had forks and spoons. On the bottom shelf next to these items, 27 mouse droppings were counted," she went on.

"There was a large amount of dust and mouse droppings on the floor next to the plastic spoons and the like. Mouse droppings were secreted around the floor next to the entrance and nearby."

The inspectors also said that there was a cupboard with a hole, a mouse bait box and cling film, used to wrap food overnight, was very near a patch of mouse droppings and a box of sandwiches was found next to the "black and brown grime" on the coolroom floor.

This was despite 21 visits from Rentokil since January last year, when recommendations were given on how to deal with the rodent problem.

Westminster Council launched prosecution proceedings after the state of two storerooms were revealed.

Starbucks, which has more than 530 stores in the UK, pleaded guilty to four counts of food safety and hygiene breaches.

It admitted that the Villiers Street cafe had not been kept clean, that there were inadequate pest control procedures and food handlers had not been adequately instructed.

Deputy District Judge Paul Southern said that the management fell short of what was required.

"It is quite clear to me there was a lamentable failure by management of Starbucks UK which led to a totally unacceptable state of affairs which in turn led to a complete failure in the obligation to customers that food should be served in a hygienic and safe manner."

Phil Broad, managing director of Starbucks Coffee Company (UK) Ltd, said that the store is now being rebuilt to fix certain areas and staff are being retrained.

"We sincerely regret that standards of food hygiene were compromised at one of our London stores in November 2005 where our stringent procedures were not followed," he said.

"This is the only time that Starbucks UK has been subject to legal proceedings of this nature in the eight years that the business has been in operation."

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