The Ritz London has launched an investigation after afternoon tea diners spotted a mouse scurrying around the five-star hotel’s world-famous restaurant.
The rodent was spotted by customers as they took tea at the salubrious venue in Mayfair, London, on Sunday.
A diner noticed others lifting their legs nervously, and staff appearing to search for something before they first glimpsed the mouse at around 8.30pm, they said.
Video footage showed the creature running backwards and forwards over the floor as helpless staff watched on.
The guests claim the Fawlty-Towers style scenario continued for about an hour, and the mouse was spied three times.
It was filmed scurrying around the iconic dining room between mostly empty round tables covered in white table cloths.
They said: ‘I was so surprised. Everyone felt very anxious.
‘You pay a premium for this experience. It was a real treat for us. We’d been looking forward to it for ages.’
It’s not the first time that unwanted guests have been spotted in the hotel recently.
Last month, activists from Take Back Power marched into the venue and dumped bags of manure in front of its Christmas tree.
The protest against the ‘obscenely wealthy’ saw three members of the group empty plastic bags of the smelly substance all over the floor.
They were swiftly removed by security guards after the incident on December 3.
Take Back Power, which describes itself as a ‘new nonviolent civil-resistance group’, is demanding that the UK government establish ‘a permanent citizen’s assembly – a House of the People, which has the power to tax extreme wealth and fix Britain’.
It says members pledge to resist the ‘super-rich’ who are ‘driving us towards social collapse’.
The Ritz London afternoon tea, with signature-blend tea and live piano music, has five sittings each day, and costs from £95 per adult, and £73 per child.
Guests can choose from a selection of 18 loose-leaf teas and are treated to a range of sandwiches, sweet treats and scones with clotted cream and strawberry preserve.
A spokesperson for Ritz London said: ‘The Ritz Hotel takes matters of this nature extremely seriously and is conducting a full investigation.
‘Our commitment is to ensure the safety and comfort of our guests and colleagues.’
