A huge rat has been spotted in an eatery as the owner slammed an 'unfair' viral video,
Ashley Docherty, who worked for a short time at the restaurant in Leeds city centre, posted the footage of the rodent which was seen there.
The short video attracted 93 shares and multiple comments in less than 24 hours.
But the owner of the restaurant chain Pieminster has condemned claims it has a "resident rat".
The video , which was posted by the ex-worker, showed the ' huge rat ' running around the dining area of the premises.
But Jon Simon, managing director and co-founder of the chain told LeedsLive the video didn't reflect his restaurant's standards and was filmed when the business was closed.
Mr Simon said: "It's certainly not true and seems incredibly unfair. It's not based on fact at all.
"It's based on a video of a pest taken when we were shut and that has been rectified.
"We have pest control in place. It has been there before this incident. It has been dealt with."
He confirmed that once he was made aware of the video, the restaurant immediately called pest control who resolved the matter.
Mr Simon added: "As soon as the video was posted, we called Eco Lab (pest control) immediately who resolved the matter and deep cleaned the site twice on our request.
"The case was closed. Eco Lab visits our restaurant eight times a year as part of their contract with us."
He insists there has never been a rodent problem at his premises before: "As you can see, this was a one-off incident and we have been advised that this was likely the result that we had major roadworks in front of the restaurant around that time.
"As you’ll see from the attached report, there was no rodent activity in any part of the building."
Documents show Eco Lab attended Pieminister, found the rodent and eliminated it. No further activity was found at the premises.
An additional check for insects and other pests in offices, internal rooms, kitchen, storage rooms, and stock room came out clean.
Internal rodent monitoring equipment was also inspected, serviced and cleaned.
A complaint was made to Leeds City Council after the rodent was spotted
The authority received the allegation, but Pieminister produced documentation to confirm pest control procedures were in place and it had been cleared as pest-free.
Leeds City Council also confirmed that the report relating to the rat seen in the video was the only one they have been made aware of and it was investigated.
