Rat spotted in Calne soft play centre's ball pit

Environmental health officers are investigating a soft play centre after a rat was spotted in the ball pit.

The rodent was seen at Jester's Adventure Play in Calne on Wednesday.

Centre manager Tracey Taylor said: "On investigation, a rat was seen and contained by the team supervisor and removed from the centre. This was a single rodent and there is no evidence of any further problem."

Wiltshire Council says it has received two complaints and is investigating.

A council spokesman said: "There were no issues at their last inspection in the autumn but we have arranged to visit the premises and speak to their management."

The play centre staff have said the whole play area was thoroughly cleaned after the rat was captured and further checks were made but no more were spotted.

In a statement, Ms Taylor said: We have processes in place to deter vermin and we will continue to monitor and review these."

She added that an incident report had been sent to Environmental Health at Wiltshire Council and the centre would follow any recommendations made.

The centre has been heavily criticised on social media, with people citing cleanliness issues and broken equipment.

"I am alarmed at the social media attention and negative comments that I have seen in relation to our play centre," Ms Taylor said.

"It is very upsetting for both myself and my staff to see the comments when we work so hard to maintain a clean and safe environment.

"We take the health and safety of our staff and customers very seriously and these comments are detrimental to our business."