TEN of Swindon’s restaurants and takeaways are failing to cut the mustard, being rated a score of zero for their food hygiene by industry experts.

But Swindon Borough Council is refusing to reveal why the businesses landed the less than impressive ratings or if customers were put in danger.

Anything from ingrained dirt, grease and food debris on floors to out-of-date food still on the shelves and lack of pest control or understanding of allergies can see businesses score poorly.

“It has nothing to do with paperwork,” said Louise Doughty, Swindon Borough Council’s public protection team leader.

“A lot of places will say it was down to paperwork but to warrant a zero it will likely have included something else.”

Among the eateries in the town rated zero and branded as needing ‘urgent improvement’ since January include; Rooster's Grill Shack in the town centre and Rustico in Commercial Road.

Rustico, inspected in June, did not want to comment on the score.

Peera Aseef, manager of Rooster’s Grill Shack, said they have been re-inspected and were unofficially rated four, however the inspectors have given them the opportunity to make a few more changes so they can be rated five, which they are hopeful of achieving.

“I know we are good because we have been rated four for the past five years,” said Peera.

“Everything has been sorted and it was only minor issues. I phoned last week to request another visit and am anticipating they come back soon.”

All scores are published online by the Food Standards Agency for the public to see. However Swindon Borough Council is refusing to reveal why the restaurants and takeaways scored zero, despite a Freedom of Information request being submitted.

They said it was not in the public interest, it would harm the businesses if this information was published and hinder or damage relationships for inspectors during future visits.

Worryingly, Rice House in Jennings Street, Rodbourne, has scored zero for the past two years despite several inspections, advice and guidelines from inspectors.

Owners Chun Choi Lee and his wife Yin Ye Lee appeared in court in February after environmental health inspectors made the alarming discovery there was no hot water for staff to clean food preparation equipment or their hands.

They were ordered to pay £1,307 in legal costs and the takeaway was temporarily shut down through an emergency prohibition order.

New Swindon Balti in Cricklade Road was described in 2006 as 'one of the worst restaurants the courts had ever seen' after giving an untold number of customers food poisoning.

It scored zero again this March and a month later Malik Bukhsh, who has worked in the restaurant industry for 40 years, appeared in court facing eight charges of food safety and hygiene breaches.

It was deemed so serious by magistrates the case was sent to Swindon Crown Court in June. However, the judge said Bakhsh could continue running his business but had to pay £9,000 in fines within the next six months or face a prison sentence. The business is now operating as Spice 47 by the same owners.

Pizza 2 Night in Cricklade Road has new owners since its zero score in January.

Meanwhile, The Burj in Foxhill scored zero in February but was taken over by Swapan Roy in June.

He said: “We are not the same restaurant as before, it was run by someone else. We have done serious work and changed the whole structure and made a lot of improvements.

“We have requested the council come back to re-inspect us.”

Oriental Express in Clive Parade, Pinehurst, is another to receive a zero score and it is not the first time. Super Pizza in Fleet Street was rated zero in May but has now come under new management, while Newroz Takeaway in Manchester Road was inspected in January and is awaiting confirmation of its new rating of one.

Although a number of the restaurants have been rated zero, many receive rave reviews on takeaway websites such as Just Eat and Hungry House.

This includes Little Panda Chinese Takeaway in Cricklade Road.

It has four out of five stars on Hungry House with more than 180 reviews. It has the same rating on Just Eat with 1,300 reviews, including from Marie this week who said: “Best food I've ever had.”

Just Eat said it works with restaurants to offer advice on hygiene and has in the past stopped businesses using its website because of their score.

The Adver ran a similar article last year on 14 businesses with a zero hygiene rating. Some of those businesses have since closed, such as Yeahya - Flavours of Asia, or improved their score like North Star Fish Bar in Ferndale Road which is now rated four.

The top score an establishment can achieve is five. More than 20 businesses in Swindon have been given that score this year, including Costa, McDonalds, Brookhouse Farm, Eggelicious, Coffee #1 and Roughmoor Fish & Chip Shop.

The ten zero rated takeaways and restaurants in Swindon this year:

  • Rustico, Commercial Road. Inspected in June.
  • Rooster’s Grill Shack, Fleet Street. Inspected in May. Improvements made and awaiting a re-inspection.
  • Super Pizza, Fleet Street. Inspected in May.
  • The Burj, Ermin Way, Foxhill. Inspected in April. Now under new management and awaiting another inspection.
  • Little Panda Chinese Takeaway, Cricklade Road. Inspected in March.
  • Oriental Express, Clive Parade, Pinehurst. Inspected in March.
  • New Swindon Balti, Cricklade Road. Inspected in March and has been renamed Spice 47.
  • Rice House, Jennings Street, Rodbourne. Inspected in February.
  • Newroz Takeaway, Manchester Road. Inspected in January and awaiting confirmation of new score of one.
  • Pizza 2 Night, Cricklade Road. Inspected in January and is under new ownership.

What the council's Freedom of Information officer Sharon Druett said on why the reports could not be revealed: "The council is concerned that if the detailed reports were released it would damage the working relationship enforcement officers have when they visit premises and this may hinder future visits, which would seriously compromise the public interest in the parties being open and transparent.

"At the centre of these exemptions is the maintenance of public confidence when the council carries out its investigations/inspections.

"Anything that may put at risk or diminish the council's ability to carry out successful investigations in future must be balanced against the public right to know.

"There is in our opinion no overriding public interest in the information held being released at this time and it is considered that the public interest in withholding the information is not outweighed by the public interest in releasing them."