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Fizzy drinks on sale at three of Britain’s biggest cinema chains contain up to 10,000 times more bacteria than is acceptable, an investigation has found.

A probe by BBC Watchdog Live revealed the shock findings, with dangerous salmonella discovered in two drinks on sale at multiplex giant Odeon.

The programme, due to be aired tonight, will report that swab tests carried out at 30 branches of Vue, Cineworld and Odeon found seven drinks contained worrying levels of bacteria.

On top of this, nine of the cinemas were found offering ice with unacceptable amounts of bacteria.

Tony Lewis, head of policy at the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health, said the results showed venues had been “cutting corners”, and told the programme: “I’m concerned we’ve got an indicator of hygiene failure and potential breakdown in terms of management of hygiene in those businesses.”

Chiefs at Odeon - where two high bacteria drinks were found, one containing 10,000 times more than it should - last night said they were investigating and said they took immediate steps to improve hygiene.

At one Odeon branch, harmful bacteria listeria - which causes an illness called listeriosis - was found on a drinks holder.

An Odeon spokesman told The Mirror: “We were therefore surprised and disappointed at the Watchdog findings and immediately launched our own thorough investigation.

“We want to reassure our guests that we have taken immediate steps and have further strengthened procedures with our teams across the UK.”

Vue - where one drink was found to have 100 times the accepted level of bacteria, and two ice samples revealed unacceptable bacteria levels - refuted the findings to the show.

At Cineworld four drinks and four ice cube samples had unacceptable bacteria levels, with one drink containing 70 times more than is acceptable.

Cineworld told the Mirror all the cinemas where tests were carried out had been awarded the maximum Food Hygiene Rating of 5 by their local authority.

Cineworld said: “At Cineworld we take hygiene incredibly seriously and we have robust procedures in place to ensure our cinemas, and the food and drink equipment, are thoroughly and regularly cleaned.

“The Cineworld branches referenced in this investigation have all been awarded the maximum Food Hygiene Rating of 5 by their Local Authority.

“Our fizzy drink dispensers are thoroughly sanitised daily and our ice machines are emptied and fully cleaned weekly, with the scoops and transport units undergoing daily sanitation.”

Members of the BBC consumer show’s ‘Swab Mob’ visited 10 branches of each cinema train, testing drinks, ice cubes, cup holders and seat fabrics, with results sent to a lab for analysis.

Describing the discovery of salmonella, Mr Lewis said: “Ultimately, it’s about people cutting corners and it’s also about managers, owners of cinemas, managers of cinemas, not taking their responsibilities seriously and potentially keeping on top of the issues.”

All three cinema chains said they take hygiene “incredibly seriously”.

The full report can be seen on “Watchdog Live”, which airs tonight at 8pm on BBC One.

The Mirror contacted Vue for comment last night but had not received a response.