A BREAST-FEEDING room at the Royal Oldham was closed for three weeks – because of one mouse.

Staff spotted the rodent a month ago but the room – where new mums can breast feed in private – stayed shut until last Wednesday.

One pregnant woman, 27, who did not want to be named, learned of the infestation after another patient found she could not use the room to feed her newborn baby.

The woman, who is expecting her third child, said: "There were mousetraps in the room. It’s a disgrace. Newborn babies are fragile and there are women on the ward who have had Caesarean sections. The thought of mice on the ward is disgusting."

The hospital called in pest control experts, who put down traps. Catching the mouse, carrying out a ‘re-inspection’ and cleaning the room took three weeks.

An alternative area was found for patients who wanted to breastfeed.

A hospital spokesman insisted it had reacted ‘swiftly’.

"Any time we have a problem with pests of any type, we take swift action to deal with them, working closely with environmental health and pest control experts," it was claimed.

They added: "Mice on a maternity ward is very upsetting, which is why we closed the room. From time to time we have problems with mice. The maternity unit is in an old part of the site and new facilities are due to be built. The reason it was shut for so long was that we wanted to make sure the problem was solved. We apologise for this inconvenience."

Last year, environmental health officers found fresh mouse droppings on the floor in a pastry area of the hospital. A dead cockroach was also discovered under a sink.

Earlier this year, a report said ants, rats, mice, fleas and cockroaches were thought to be among the vermin found at the Royal Oldham in the last two years.