The Dunedin City Council are prosecuting the former owners of an inner city restaurant for having a poor standard of hygiene.

The council closed the premises in May last year, following inspections by their Environmental Health team.

They found the restaurant posed an immediate risk to public health.

The council are still supressing the name of the restaurant, which now trades under a different name.

The DCC say the public have an expectation the food they purchase at a restaurant has been prepared under hygienic conditions, and the premises are free of vermin.