RESTAURANTS, shops and pubs will have to pay £140 for a hygiene rating re-inspection.

Rossendale Council agreed to bring in the new charge from Monday, January 1, 2018.

The charges will be incurred if a business was given a low rating and requested a new inspection, rather than waiting for their next annual inspection.

Business owners said they were against the plans because they would impact on smaller businesses and was not ‘value for money’.

Food hygiene rating inspections look at how food is prepared, cooked, the cleanliness of the premises and how the business manage sand records to make sure food is safe.

Businesses can be given ratings from five, very good hygiene, to zero, where major improvement is needed.

Karl Kent, who has owned Posh Nosh sandwich bar in Manchester Road, Haslingden, said he was against the new charges.

He said: “I was given a two-star rating and inspectors visited me when we were having construction work and I have been trying to get a new rating for over a year.

“I’ve tried and tried I’ve had nothing back from them.

“I’ve given up trying to get one and this new scheme has put me off even more.

“It’s just not value for money, the system is unfair.

“I’ve got hundreds of great reviews on Just Eat and Trip Advisor so to me the costs for this new inspection is just not worth it.

“Small businesses who desperately want to get their premises reinspected might not be able to afford that sort of lump sum and are at a disadvantage.”

As of June 2017, 523 of the businesses in Rossendale which had been recently inspected showed 427 had a five-star rating, 64 had a four-star rating, 19 had a three-star rating, four had a two-star rating, nine had a one-star rating and no businesses had a 0-star rating.

Cllr Jackie Oats, the council’s portfolio holder for operations, said this was not a profit-making matter for the council but was to improve the service they provide.

She said: “The council only has so much resource and with so many premises to inspect an reinspection could take a long time to do.

“However if the costs can be covered by the business owner then we will be able to come out and get the reinspection."

“Businesses need to think about how important they take the hygiene ratings.

“If they really want a five-star rating they will have to pay what it costs the council.

“We cannot do it for nothing.

“This will improve a service the council is already providing.”