VIDEO: Dundee cafe shuts after rat seen running around inside

by · The Courier

A Dundee cafe was forced to shut after a rat was recorded running around inside.

Black Sheep Coffee temporarily closed its High Street premises today after The Courier sent over footage of the rodent captured on Thursday night.

It was taken by a pedestrian who spotted the rat at around 9.30pm – two hours after closing time.

They quickly took a video that showed the small animal darting under some chairs before disappearing from view.

The shocked witness, who has also frequented the cafe as a customer. said: “We live in the city centre and went for a walk outside on Thursday night.

“We were sitting on the benches opposite and my partner looked into the Black Sheep Coffee cafe.

“It is a big chain and we used to frequent it quite a lot.

“We looked in and saw a little black thing on the floor.

“It was walking over and started to move.

“So I pulled out the camera and it started to run away.”

Customer spotted rat in Dundee’s Black Sheep Coffee

The coffee chain opened its Dundee branch on the site of the former Patisserie Valerie on June 25.

Black Sheep Coffee was founded by former St Andrews University students Eirik Holth and Gabriel Shohet, who opened the first outlet in Camden in 2013.

The firm has grown rapidly in the past decade and now has more than 90 shops across the UK.

But the witness who spotted the rat says they are unlikely to return.

The witness was ‘freaked out’ by the rat. Image supplied

“It was a rat in the middle of the floor, which freaked us out quite a bit,” they added.

“It was 9.30pm and it was closed.

“But it’s just not very nice whenever you see a little rat running around inside a big coffee chain.

“Whenever there’s one there’s usually more – whenever you can see one, especially.

“Every time I have gone before it has been fine but I won’t go back again.”

A spokesperson for Black Sheep Coffee said they responded immediately to our message highlighting the video.

They added: “Upon receiving your email we took immediate action and temporarily closed the store while we carried out a thorough disinfection procedure as is our policy for any shop in our estate that manifests any pest control issue.”