What health inspectors found at Premier League football grounds

The two most recent environmental reports from teams in the top tier of English football have revealed some surprising findings.

An inspection of Manchester United's stadium Old Trafford discovered that the club has previously had to deal with the presence of rodents.

The report, which also found a broken tap and flaking pipework, instructed them to "continue to monitor and react to the mouse activity".

At St Mary’s Stadium, home of the Saints, Southampton were instructed to clean one of their ceilings, refill a soap dispenser and sort out a gap in a floor which provided potential access for pests.

The information, which was obtained through Freedom of Information requests, also highlighted some other interesting discoveries.

Swansea City were guilty of serving ready cooked chicken that was still pink, leaving an open packet of ham in a kitchen and allowing some pate to go out of date.

At Fulham's ground, Craven Cottage, an open box of bread rolls was left out under a wash basin, while Reading FC were told to clean out the dead insects and cobwebs in a drinks area.

But for many other teams in the league, such as Aston Villa, Wigan, QPR and West Ham, it was just smaller issues such as temperature control and general cleaning that were highlighted.

And reigning champions Manchester City were given top marks, with the inspector writing there was "very good hygiene standards in place".

In response to the report Manchester United said they had a "robust pest control system" and that if any incidents do occur they take "immediate and appropriate action".

HOW THE CLUBS FARED:

Arsenal - The London club scored top marks with inspectors with no contraventions of legislation witnessed;

Aston Villa - The Villains were picked up on maintaining temperature control, a lack of water being provided to certain units and a leaking drain pipe;

Chelsea - Health inspectors detailed how out of date turkey saddles were almost served, how frozen pies were not correctly labelled and also expressed concerns about the sale stockpot. But it seems the warning was taken, as a follow up inspection recorded hygiene being generally excellent;

Everton - High standards of food hygiene and safety were noted by the inspectors;

Fulham - Areas of concern shared with Fulham included an open box of bread rolls under a basin, a hole in a wall which could have given access to pests, and a pair of rusty scissors;

Liverpool - Like their Merseyside neighbours, Liverpool showed good standards and procedures;

Manchester City - The Premier League champions were noted for their very good standards and no action was required;

Manchester Utd - The Red Devils were criticised for flaking paintwork and concerns were raised about the presence of rodents, with the report instructing the club to continue to monitor and react to the mouse activity;

Newcastle United - No problems were discovered by inspectors at St James's Park with good standards observed;

Norwich City - no response;

Queens Park Rangers - A few minor problems were found at Loftus Road such as a few loose taps, no hot water to a hand basin and low lighting in certain areas;

Reading - Health inspectors found dead insects and cobwebs at the Madejski Stadium, which they instructed the club to clean away, as well as a hole in a ceiling and rubbish behind the PG Tips table;

Southampton - Southampton were instructed to clean one of their ceilings, refill a soap dispenser and sort out a gap in a floor which provided potential access for pests;

Stoke City - The Potters were told to clean a dirty vacuum packer and take action on some pouches for vacuum packing that were stored in a dirty box;

Sunderland - The inspection found the Stadium of Light to comply with hygiene and food legislation;

Swansea City - Some of the issues highlighted by the reports included chicken being served that was still pink, out of date watercress, out of date pate and an open packet of cooked ham left in a kitchen;

Tottenham Hotspur - Tottenham scored well in the report with food hygiene being recorded as well managed; ::

West Bromwich Albion - Top marks for West Brom as hygiene standards were recorded as being very high;

West Ham United - Not many problems were discovered at Upton Park with inspectors just instructing some extractor filters to be cleaned and to replace a missing ceiling tile;

Wigan Athletic - High standards were noted at Wigan with the report just telling them to ensure temperatures were recorded properly.