Posted: June 25th, 2009 - 3:55pm by Doug Powell

A North Melbourne bakery riddled with cockroaches and mouse droppings that failed to comply with an order to clean the shop has been fined $7,000.

After an inspection in April last year that found a live mouse, cockroaches, moths, mouse droppings and dirty shelving and work benches, Queensberry Hot Bread's owner Dino Primitivo did not comply with an order to clean the shop or deter pests, the Melbourne Magistrates Court heard yesterday.

Photographs tendered to the court showed a live mouse under shelves, clothing hung up to dry in front of an oven, cracked, broken and dirty work tools, benches and surfaces, and mouse droppings on the floor.

Magistrate Sue Wakeling told Primitivo,

"If you cannot offer food that is safe for consumption, you ought not to."