A pub was ordered to stop serving food after cockroaches were found in its kitchen.

The JD Wetherspoon watering hole Baxter’s Court in Mare Street, Hackney Central, was issued with a court order after Environmental Health officers found the infestation.

During a visit last Monday (Feb 10), officers found a trap in the first floor kitchen of the venue full of German cockroaches in different stages of development including egg, nymph and adult.

Live cockroaches were also found in other areas of the kitchen – including next to uncovered boxes of clean cutlery in the main food preparation and cooking area.

German cockroaches are known to carry diseases and organisms including e.coli and salmonella, and Environmental Health officers said that there was an “imminent risk” of food becoming contaminated.

Officers also found no evidence in the kitchen log book to demonstrate what measures had been taken to protect food and equipment from contamination by the cockroaches.

Various cleaning shortfalls were also pointed out in the report.

Last Wednesday (Feb 12), Stratford Magistrates’ Court issued a hygiene emergency prohibition order, prohibiting the preparation and cooking of food at the premises. The pub was also ordered to pay the council costs of £865.

The pub reopened its kitchen last Friday (Feb 14) after a follow-up inspection to give it the all-clear.

Cllr Feryal Demirci, cabinet member for neighbourhoods, said: “Staff at JD Wetherspoon in Mare Street have shown a disregard for the health of customers. Hackney Council will not tolerate this, and we will take action against any business that puts the health of our residents at risk.”

JD Wetherspoon spokesman Eddie Gershon said: “We wholeheartedly apologise to our customers for the cockroach infestation at Baxter’s Court.

“We take the issue of hygiene in our pubs extremely seriously and we have fallen way behind the standards expected of us in this case.

“We worked closely with our own pest control team as well as the council’s environmental health officers to resolve the situation and as a result the kitchen is now reopen.”

Anyone suspecting a business of breaching hygiene standards should contact Environmental Health on 0208 356 4911 or email info@hackney.gov.uk.