A food outlet caught in the middle of a hygiene scandal has moved from its Flatts location to Devonshire, the company’s owner said today.

Marico Thomas confirmed that FoodHub in Flatts finished its relocation efforts this afternoon to Pinky’s on Middle Road, and now goes under the name FoodHub at Pinky’s.

Mr Thomas said the move had been planned since last year and would allow the company to “clear and renovate Flatts and reopen under the direction of a new head chef with a beautiful new menu”.

He added: “This was done to ensure we are demonstrating to our customers and the public that we are serious about safety — not just physical safety, but the sense of safety.

“It is also useful timing in that it allows us to accelerate our plan to prepare the Flatts store and the neighbourhood for something new.

“We were going to change Flatts anyway; we are just doing it now.”

The statement came after videos and photographs circulated around social media showing insects on kitchen surfaces and other parts of the North Shore Road takeaway spot.

Images included those of cockroaches scurrying across the floor and counters, as well as dead insects and rodents caught in a sticky trap.

Mr Thomas admitted today that there was “a short period of time where our own standards were not being met”.

He said these problems were identified last year and solved by assessing equipment, staff and managers.

Mr Thomas said some employees were replaced while the remaining staff were retrained.

He added that health standards had been shared with other locations and that adherence was made mandatory.

Mr Thomas confirmed that Environmental Health officers with the Department of Health visited the Flatts location on the day the videos were made public and found no evidence of pests.

“The situation was corrected and has been controlled,” Mr Thomas insisted.

He added: “The recent public outcry has been tough — harder because we had already taken the steps to rectify the situation and because a former employee, the videographer, was directly responsible for maintaining the cleanliness of the premises.

“Let me stress that this matter is not current. The images seen do not reflect the corrections taken, nor the re-establishment of the standards.”

“We are clean and clear, and meet the B rating awarded.”

The former employee who circulated the images, who asked to remain anonymous, confirmed with The Royal Gazette that the photographs and videos had been taken over the course of about a year, with the most recent one being taken in January.

He said that he had made complaints to the Department of Health and the Labour Relations Office about hygiene conditions at the location.

The man added that he was the only porter at the location and told higher management that they needed more staff to help clear the backlog.

He said he received the assistance last September.

The Ministry of Health has been contacted to see if these health complaints had been received, as well as when they were made, if and how the Environmental Health Office responded and when.

Mr Thomas said the new location would combine the menus of FoodHub and Pinky’s while using the same delivery area.

He added that the number for FoodHub Flatts would go directly to the Pinky’s location.