Tesco told to shut flagship Covent Garden store over 'serious' mice infestation It is expected to cost the company thousands of pounds in lost revenue. Westminster Council placed a closure sign in windows earlier this week, which said the Bedford Street shop remained a health risk. It said the closure was "because of a serious live infestation of mice throughout the premises, poor maintenance of routine cleaning, inadequate proofing against mice and direct contamination of food items." Authorities ordered the company to undertake a thorough clean-up and implement fresh pest control measures. It remains unclear when the store will reopen. Customers expressed concerns about the disclosures. Mark Bailey, 41, a psychotherapist, said it was a "surprise" that workers failed to keep the store clean. He added: "Tesco has oodles of money and they can't even clean up properly. It must be one of their busiest stores in central London, at lunchtime it's absolutely packed, so for them to not bother cleaning up is really bad. Barry Hughes, a 35 year-old law student who lives nearby, said the problem "must have been going on for some time." ""It really is hard to believe that a major retailer like Tesco can suffer such a serious infestation that the shop has to be closed down," he said. Council environmental health officers don't shut down a store without very good reason. James Armitage, Westminster Council's food health and safety manager, denied the local authority treated retailers with preference. "We treat the big retail companies with exactly the same approach as small High Street traders - where public health is of concern, our action is swift and decisive," he said. We can confirm that a serious mouse infestation and dirty conditions were found at the Tesco Metro in Covent Garden and we have closed the premises down until a thorough clean-up has taken place and proper pest control measures have been taken. The council is working with the supermarket chain to establish a timetable for the work to take place. On Wednesday a Tesco spokesman said: "We insist on the highest standards of hygiene in our stores and are extremely concerned by this incident, which we are confident was isolated. The Covent Garden store is temporarily closed and we are taking urgent steps to deal with the problem. We apologise to our customers for not meeting our own very high standards on this occasion. Tesco has seen its market share fall in recent months while poor Christmas sales sparked a rare profit warning, which wiped more than £5 billion off its share price. While Tesco's market share has fallen from 30.6 per cent a year ago to 30.2 per cent despite its high-profile "Big Price Drop" promotion, its biggest rival, Asda, enjoyed a resurgence with a record 17.9 per cent, which was up from 17.3 per cent a year ago.