Kentucky Fried Rodent??

Kentucky Fried Rat: The rodent in KFC that left families terrified as staff chased it with a broom

By Daily Mail Reporter

Last updated at 4:13 PM on 25th November 2009

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Terrified KFC customers leaped on to chairs to escape a rat on the loose in a fast food restaurant's dining area.

Staff at the outlet in Newquay, Cornwall, chased after the rat with a broom and a cardboard box as shocked diners looked on.

The pest even scurried under a pram belonging to waiting mother, Eleanor Franks, who was buying lunch with her young son.

She said: 'The rat was about a foot long, it looked really mangey and had lost most of its hair.

Enlarge Loose about food: A rat scurries across the floor inside a KFC branch

'I was surprised that they didn't shut up the store - they put a "cleaning in progress" sign out and asked me to move to the side as they chased it with a cardboard box.

'I had to stand on a chair and it kept running under the pram.'

It is the latest in a series of rat sightings at the KFC and now health officials are investigating.

Passerby Kat Marston, 26, took a photograph of the giant rat. She said: 'I was walking past and some guy was saying "Has anyone got a camera there's a rat?"

Enlarge Tail terror: The rat runs near highchairs at the restaurant in Newquay, Cornwall

'They were still serving. A guy that worked there said "Don't worry about it, we've called pest control".

Miss Marston said that there were families and children in the restaurant.

'I went in, I looked and thought, oh my God, there is actually a rat in here. It was a manky rat as well - there was fur missing. I took my phone out and took a photo.

'The kids were sitting in the seats watching it. I think there was a general shock of "There's actually a rat in here".

'People were definitely looking at it thinking it's actually a rat. I don't think people knew what to do.'

She said the rat looked 'quite comfortable.

A scene from BBC's Fawlty Towers episode Basil the Rat, where the hotel was terrorised by a rodent

'It wasn't a small rat - it was a full grown adult rat. It makes me heave thinking about it.

Cornwall Council said: 'We have had three reports of sightings of vermin at KFC in Newquay in the past few weeks.

'Two of these reports are believed to relate to the same sighting.

'An officer from the council's commercial food and safety team has visited the premises and enquiries are ongoing.'

KFC insisted the ifestation was an isolated incident.

A spokesman for the chain said: 'As soon as the team were made aware of this they contacted the pest control agency and the Environmental Health officer and invited them both to visit the restaurant.

'The experts have agreed that there is no evidence to suggest that there is any sort of infestation in the restaurant, but have offered their advice on how best to stop rodents from entering the store.

'We've taken their advice on board and we will continue to work closely with pest control and the EHO in the future.'