25th Street Checkers in Cleveland was busted thawing buns in the men's bathroom

Customers at a local fast food restaurant in Bradley County say they found a disturbing scene over the weekend, hundreds of buns, just feet away from a public toilet.

It all happened at a Checkers restaurant located off of 25th Street in North West Cleveland,TN. Pictures confirm the buns weren't in the oven, they were in the bathroom, Saturday. Customers say this type of practice is unacceptable while health department officials called it a "public health emergency." Tennessee Department of Health officials were on the scene within 24 hours to investigate.

"That's nasty, I don't want to eat," said customer T.C. Cooper. "I'm never going to eat there again."

Customers are now turning away from the Checkers in Cleveland after seeing the pictures another customer posted online.

The video show several racks of hamburger buns sitting next to the toilet in the men's bathroom.

"It's just bad business, poor management and it's disgusting," said Cooper.

Stephen Staley who manages a nearby McDonalds says he was visiting Checkers on Saturday when took the video.

"My first thought was are they going to serve them and speechless other than that," said Staley

He says he took the video to keep others safe.

"I've been to get a serve-safe certificate and you learn about all of that stuff in that class," said Staley. "Food safety is definitely a big priority in a restaurant."

He confronted the manager on duty about the buns being in the bathroom.

"They said they were trying to get them out of there and inside of the restaurant," said Staley.

Staley told Channel 3 that he stayed on the property until employees moved the buns back inside more than an hour after his complaint. He then he called the Health Department's emergency tip-line for help.

"We had an environmentalist go out to the restaurant Sunday morning to speak with the manager and find out what the situation was," said Eric Coffee, Field Office Manager for Division of Environmental Health. "With all of the bacteria and things that are present in the restroom, it's possible to contaminate the food so that's never acceptable."

Inspectors conducted a site inspection on Sunday and tell Channel 3, they found the buns in the dumpster.

"There were no imminent health hazards present while we were there in order to require them to be closed," said Coffee.