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Off-putting footage has emerged of a pigeon helping itself to fresh ingredients behind the counter of a Central Auckland Subway, forcing the short-term closure of the eatery.

The pigeon can be seen dining out in the meat section of the Symonds St restaurant for about 15 seconds before a Subway employee runs towards it, smacks the counter and scares away the bird.

The customer who filmed the video can be heard calling out to staff members and saying, “There’s a bird eating all your stuff. Like it’s just been picking out all of the stuff.”

The 20-second video – posted to social media platform TikTok at the weekend – has amassed more than 100,000 views.

A pigeon has been caught dining out on fresh Subway ingredients behind the counter of a Central Auckland restaurant chain. Photo / TikTok / @ppdac

“Why do they not have a cover,” one commenter questioned.

“Thank goodness I just eat the cookies,” another said.

The video also had a comment from Subway New Zealand on it, which read; “Hey, we’re sorry to hear this. Please contact our Subway team... Thanks so much, Subway.”

The original poster of the video replied: “You guys really need [to] clean up this Subway store, it’s so gross and needs better food hygiene please”.

Other commenters called the Symonds St restaurant, which is a short walk from the Auckland University of Technology (AUT) and a hotspot for university students, “disgusting” and “tragic”.

Subway said the food was discarded and removed for sale, and the restaurant was closed as soon as staff were made aware. Photo / TikTok / @ppdac

A Subway spokesperson said the franchise takes the health and safety of customers seriously.

“As soon as the Symonds St restaurant team were made aware, the food was discarded and removed from sale, and the restaurant was closed for thorough, intense cleaning.

“The team members have received additional training and have taken extra measures to help avoid this happening again.”

The spokesperson said the Symonds St restaurant would soon undergo a “full restaurant remodel”.

“We look forward to sharing with the community the new refreshed restaurant soon.”

The restaurant has a food grade of A according to the Auckland Council website.

Benjamin Plummer is an Auckland-based reporter who covers breaking news. He has worked for the Herald since 2022.