A morE hygienic future for an Indian restaurant in Teignmouth could be on the menu after Teignbridge Council successfully prosecuted the Taj Mahal for breaching food hygiene regulations.

On Friday at South Devon Magistrates Court at Torquay, the restaurant was fined £1,000 for each of six food hygiene offences after a council inspection in June 2011, plus £773 costs. 

The manager, Sultan Al-Mahmood, was also fined £1,000 for each of the six offences plus £773 costs. 

The court said that both the company and the manager responsible for the restaurant were equally at fault.

At the inspection on June 22, 2011, Teignbridge's environmental health food safety team found evidence of rats, including droppings and a dead rat under a staircase.