HYGIENE measurements for Blackburn with Darwen’s restaurants and takeaways is set for a change.

Blackburn with Darwen Council were the first in Lancashire to launch the Scores on the Doors rating scheme in 2007, which graded outlets based on inspections and confidence in the business’s ability to improve standards.

That scheme will now be replaced by the national Food Hygiene Rating Scheme (FHRS) developed by the Food Standards Agency, to bring the borough into line the rest of England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Sayyed Osman, Director of Environment, Housing and Neighbourhoods, said: “The new scheme works in exactly the same way.

“Food safety officers inspect a range of premises that sell food to check their hygiene standards meet legal requirements.

“The hygiene standards found at these inspections are rated on a scale ranging from zero at the bottom which means ‘urgent improvement necessary’, to a top rating of five - ‘very good’.

“Scores on the Doors did a great job both in raising standards and raising public awareness of the importance of food hygiene but by adopting this new scheme local residents can be confident that the same high standards apply wherever they choose to buy food.”