A popular pub near Darlington has been hit with a one star hygiene rating six months after a takeover of the venue.
The Fox Hall Inn, on the A66 at East Layton, Richmond, has been famed in the past as a great stopover for drivers going to and returning from Cumbria on the A66.
In October last year, the popular venue was taken over by Landlord Chris Daley and Chef Scott Fisher - aiming to retain the Fox Hall Inn as a great place for food and drink.
However, in the latest round of hygiene ratings from the Food Standards Agency, it has received a one-star hygiene rating during an inspection that took place on April 19.
The owners of the venue have put the food hygiene rating down to fridges and freezer issues, caused by consistent power cuts - and have said that they await another inspection.
Within the inspection, 'hygienic food handling', which includes, hygienic handling of food including preparation, cooking, re-heating, cooling and storage, was ranked 'major improvement necessary'.
In the 'cleanliness and condition of facilities and building', which includes, cleanliness and condition of facilities and building (including having appropriate layout, ventilation, hand washing facilities and pest control) to enable good food hygiene, it was noted as 'Good'.
Meanwhile, the 'management of food safety' category, including system or checks in place to ensure that food sold or served is safe to eat, evidence that staff know about food safety, and the food safety officer has confidence that standards will be maintained in future, was ranked 'Generally satisfactory'.
The Food Hygiene ratings show that several businesses have been told to improve at the start of 2024.
The ratings, which are based on hygiene and safety, structural compliance and confidence in management are routinely updated.
Across the UK, every food outlet including convenience stores, restaurants, hospitals and care homes are given a hygiene rating.
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What each hygiene rating means
- 0 - Urgent Improvement Necessary
- 1 - Major Improvement Necessary
- 2 - Some Improvement Necessary
- 3 - Hygiene Standards Generally Satisfactory
- 4 - Hygiene Standards Good
- 5 - Hygiene Standards Very Good
In response to the one-star score, the owner of the Fox Hall Inn, Chris Daley, has said that he and his team were shocked by the ranking.
He said: "The main reason was our main outside freezer and fridge (large capacity) were causing myself and team enormous problems.
"The freezer and fridge have been adversely affected by the area's frequent power cuts both have shot up sometimes to 18 degrees which cooks the food you need to chill or freeze.
"We've had to throw whole batches away sometimes up to £500 worth of meat alone from freezer problems.
"Hence our fridge and freezers were somewhat overburdened when the EHO visited. Some date tickets were past their sell-by date but these were probably from the freezer.
"My chef and team are looking forward to a revisit."
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