Winners and losers in food hygiene drive

A RATING system to allow residents to pick the most hygienic restaurants and food outlets in Bexhill has been launched by Rother District Council.

Every takeaway, café, restaurant, sandwich shop, pub and hotel in the area has been given a rating under the new initiative.

The Food Hygiene Rating Scheme gives six different ratings, ranging from zero “urgent improvement necessary” to five “very good”.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Among the Bexhill restaurants and cafes to score top marks are: Alfredo and Sue’s Cafe, Western Road, Cooden Beach Hotel, Costa Coffee at Tesco Ravenside, Mini Bertha’s fish and chip shop, Oasis Sandwich and Coffee Bar, Sea Road, The Mermaid and the Park Lodge Hotel.

Pubs and bars to score top marks are: MJ’z, St Leonard’s Road, The Harp, Devonshire Road, The New Inn, Ninfield Road, The Sportsman, Sackville Road, and The Town Crier, London Road.

However three outlets scored zero under the inspection - China Garden takeaway, Western Road, Taj Mahal, Sackville Road and the West End Cafe, London Road.

The idea is to allow people to make informed choices about the places where they eat out, and Rother hopes this in turn will encourage businesses to improve their hygiene standards.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

A Rother District Council spokesman said: “The published ratings are exactly what the council’s environmental health officers found on the last occasion they inspected a premises to check compliance with food hygiene laws.”

This is a national scheme sponsored by the Food Standards Agency currently being piloted in the district.

The top ranked caterers in the district attended the launch at the Town Hall, on Monday, where they received a certificate and medal from Rother District Council chairman Cllr Robert Elliston.

• All the ratings for the Rother District are published on a national website, food.gov.uk/ratings

Related topics: