If you fancy eating out or getting a takeaway in the Ribble Valley you can order in confidence according to the latest data available from a leading government standards agency.

According to Food Standards Agency figures, 187 of the Ribble Valley's 269 rated eateries have top marks for hygiene (69.5 per cent), meaning ‘very good’.

Meanwhile, 39 are rated as four for ‘good’ and a further 22 are rated three for ‘generally satisfactory’.

Those combined figures of 248 mean that 92 per cent of The Ribble Valley's restaurants and takeaways 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 Ribble Valley Borough 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.

The figures, which are constantly evolving because of ongoing inspections, currently show 6 Ribble Valley eateries were rated as two for ‘improvement necessary’, four as one for ‘major improvement necessary’ and none were rated zero, for ‘urgent improvement necessary’. Eleven were currently awaiting inspection or exempt from inspection. 

Below is a downloadable spreadsheet so readers can see the current hygiene status of their local food establishment.

Ribble valley.xls.xlsx

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