If you fancy a takeaway this evening you can order in confidence according to the latest data available from a leading government standards agency.

According to Food Standards Agency figures, 39 of the Blackburn's 140 rated takeaways have top marks for hygiene (28 per cent), meaning ‘very good’.

Meanwhile, 32 are rated as four for ‘good’ and a further 32 are rated three for ‘generally satisfactory’.

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Those combined figures of 103 mean that 74 per cent of Blackburn's food businesses received a positive rating when they were last visited by council inspectors.

Each business is given their hygiene rating by the Food Standards Agency when it is inspected by a food safety officer from Blackburn Council.

The scheme is run by local authorities in England, Northern Ireland and Wales and applies to restaurants, pubs, cafes, takeaways, hotels, supermarkets and other food shops.

The food safety officer inspecting the business checks how well the business is meeting the law by looking at:- How hygienically the food is handled – how it is prepared, cooked, re-heated, cooled and stored.

The condition of the structure of the buildings – the cleanliness, layout, lighting, ventilation and other facilities.

How the business manages and records what it does to make sure food is safe.

The figures, which are constantly evolving because of ongoing inspections, currently show 17 Blackburn takeaways were rated as two for ‘improvement necessary’, 11 as one for ‘major improvement necessary’ and 1 rated zero, for ‘urgent improvement necessary’.

Below is a downloadable spreadsheet so readers can see the current hygiene status of their local takeaway within the Blackburn.

Blackburn takeaways ratings.xlsx

Figures are taken from the Government’s official Food Standards Agency ratings.food.gov.uk