Mice shut St James's Park restaurant

One of London's most feted restaurants has been closed down by health inspectors after being invaded by mice.

Inn the Park opened to rapturous reviews in 2004. It is run by Oliver Peyton, the man behind Mash in Great Portland Street and the Dining Rooms at the National Gallery.

A Westminster council spokesman said: "The council's food team closed Inn the Park's kitchen on Monday because of a serious infestation of mice and poor maintenance of routine cleaning resulting in actual, and a significant risk of, food contamination.

"The council is obliged to seek to justify its actions by obtaining a hygiene emergency prohibition order from magistrates.

"In the meantime, the food team is working with the restaurant to ensure standards are improved before it is allowed to re-open."

A spokeswoman for the restaurant, which is sited by the lake in St James's Park, said the mice were seeking shelter. She said: "Inn the Park is in a unique location and the dramatic change in temperature has resulted in some field mice migrating to our restaurant to find warmth. "We are taking all the necessary measures to eradicate the problem and will re-open tomorrow."