kids

Melbourne mum makes 'disgusting' discovery in play centre equipment.

A popular Victorian children’s play centre has been left disgraced and forced to shut its doors without warning for two days after rodent waste was found among its equipment.

The discovery was made on Monday when a Melbourne mum-of-two was visiting Chipmunks Playland in Caroline Springs with her daughters, sister and niece and some play equipment was moved, showing a large number of rat droppings and a worm.

Images from the play centre. Source: Facebook.

"Disgusted by what I saw," the mother wrote in a Facebook post accompanying six images of their findings.

“I, for one, would have been thankful to know there was a rat issue where my kids are playing, being curious little beings they are - putting everything in their mouths,” the mother's post continued, adding, “I know how difficult it can be to keep a close eye on your children and it only takes 1 second for them to place one in their mouth."

The Facebook post that alerted parents around Melbourne to the problem. Source: Facebook.

Within hours, the post had been shared close to 1,000 times.

By Tuesday, Chipmunks Playland had responded to the growing complaints, issuing a Facebook statement that said the play centre would close for two days to allow pest control services in.

“We would like to take a moment and apologise to our dear customers. What happened yesterday [Monday] was something we are very embarrassed and gutted about. We take kids safety very seriously and we are so heartbroken with what happened,” the post read.

Before announcing its plans to close for two days to allow professionals in to manage the issue, the post stated, "We can assure you that we take cleaning very seriously and we have pest control companies come in on a regular basis to maintain a fresh and clean environment for toddlers."

The mother's original Facebook post has since been updated to say that both the local council and state government have been alerted to the issue and will be visiting Chipmunks Playland.

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