Burnley's worst takeaway hygiene revealed (From Lancashire Telegraph)

Burnley's worst takeaway hygiene revealed

2:00pm Friday 17th August 2012 in Burnley By Peter Magill, Chief reporter

ZERO RATED Moonlight in St James Street

THE number of takeaways and cafes in Burnley with a zero rating for food hygiene has dropped from seven to one, councillors have been told.

Last year the borough council adopted the Food Standards Agency rating system for the first time.

Seven premises were caught out in the initial round of inspections – with a zero-star score – but this has since reduced to just one – the Moonlight takeaway in St James Street.

But a further study has demonstrated that the number of premises with a single star rating – still requiring major improvement – has risen from 21 to 37.

The one-star list mainly features takeaways but also Ighten Leigh social club and Towneley House care home.

Environment official Jayne Enright said in a scrutiny report that the increase in one-star ratings may be due to the fact that more unannounced inspections were being carried out by the authority.

She added: “We propose to target those premises rated ‘one’ by a series of interventions, starting with targeted information outlining requirements, advising them how to obtain and use management information available from Food StandardsAgency.”

Plans are also being drawn up for seminars on improving food hygiene ratings for the worst-affected sites. Nearly 260 out of the 730 premises inspected across the borough have received the top rating of five stars, members of the resources scrutiny committee have been told.

The five-star list includes Whittlefield Primary School in Tabor Street, which was criticised last year after receiving a single-star assessment.