Hospitals, nurseries and schools also among venues found with unacceptably dirty kitchens.
More than five thousand eateries in the north of England are failing to meet food hygiene standards, a Sunday Post investigation has found.
Our probe revealed that hospitals, nurseries, schools and sports clubs are among the venues found to have dirty kitchens.
Shockingly, even hangouts of the rich and famous such as Premiership and TV soap stars, have fallen well below expected food hygiene standards.
A spokesman for the UK Food Standards Agency (FSA) warned: “If an officer finds that a business’s hygiene standards are very poor and there is an imminent risk to health this means food is not safe to eat the officer must take action.”
Just over 68,000 businesses and organisations in the north of England have been inspected by council environmental health officers in the past two years.
Information is available to the public through the FSA’s Food Hygiene Information Scheme.
In total, environmental health officials have told 5,058 eating places they must improve their food hygiene.
Our findings show that 1,733 of the 9,461 takeaways inspected 18% were given a food hygiene rating of two or below.
Any in this category are deemed to be failing.
More than 120 hotels and guest houses were also told to sharpen up their act.
They include the plush 11th Century Otterburn Castle Country House Hotel in Northumberland and Swinside Lodge Hotel in the Lake District.
Restaurants also performed poorly, with 1,048 of 13,489 checked being substandard.
The Grill on the Edge in Alderley Edge, Cheshire, also faced criticsm. The restaurant, a favourite with Manchester United and City players’ wives and girlfriends, scored only a single point in the FSA scheme in February.
The Ox Noble, which has hosted parties for Coronation Street soap stars could also only muster a point meaning “major improvements” are needed.
High Street names such as Frankie & Benny’s, which has a restaurant at The Gate, Newcastle, and supermarkets Tesco Express, Co-op, Spar, Costcutter, Nisa and Londis were also told to improve. More than 90 hospitals, care homes or children’s nurseries were also told to do better.
They include the Yew Tree Care Centre in Redcar, Cleveland, and Holmehurst residential care home in Carlisle.
A total of 41 schools, colleges or universities fell short on hygiene. Astonishingly, these included St Augustine’s and St Theresa’s primary schools, which are served by Darlington Council’s Community catering team and Preston
College’s butchery department.
More than 530 pubs, clubs and bars fell below expected food hygiene standards, with nearly 20 scoring zero meaning “urgent improvements” are needed.
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