A Durham restaurant says improvements have been made after a recent hygiene inspection found expired yoghurt, “dirty” temperature probes, and “mouldy” seals on fridge doors. 

Restaurant 17, on Elvet Bridge, was handed a two-star hygiene rating and told improvement was necessary after an inspection on September 18. 

The owner of the family-run business said it was "soul destroying" to receive the two-star rating - but said it had "made excellent improvements" and told how inspectors had since been back two weeks later to check in.

He told The Northern Echo: "We are putting back in for a reinspection. Within two weeks everything had changed. They came back and said we'd made excellent improvements. 

"Anyone who wants to come in can come in, we have nothing to hide. We've replaced equipment, replaced fridges, and had the inspector back two weeks later. 

"We also had a cleaning company come down as well so it is sparkling." 

Now, the full hygiene report from the inspection has been released by Durham County Council, highlighting several hygiene railings including a string of dirty areas and food equipment and “unsatisfactory” standards of cleanliness. 

Inspectors found badly worn wire wool in a container beneath the food prep sink, which was disposed of at the time of the inspection. 

The outside of Restaurant 17, in DurhamThe outside of Restaurant 17, in Durham (Image: GOOGLE)

Cracked, worn, and loose tabs to plastic containers used to store foods were found, alongside a badly damaged wire sieve hanging in the kitchen. 

A pot of Soya Yoghurt was found stored in the refrigerator which was beyond its use-by date of September 14 - four days before the date of the September 18 inspection.

Standards of cleanliness were described as “unsatisfactory”, with areas found to be in a particular dirty condition in the kitchen including: 

  • Flooring, lower walls, and the wall and floor junctions
  • Bottles containing cleaning products
  • Surfaces beneath the food preparation sink unit
  • Frames, legs and wheels to benches and equipment
  • Shelves
  • Window frame and sill
  • Surfaces of the Fire Exit door
  • The tread to the step leading to the area where the refrigerators were located

The storeroom flooring and stairs leading to it were also dirty.

Several types of food equipment were also highlighted as dirty, including the infa-red and digital temperature probes, shelves in the fridge, oven trays and bans, and plastic crates and containers. 

An unused fridge was also described as being “in a filthy condition”. 

There were also several areas found to be in disrepair, including flooring in the kitchen, a damaged stainless-steel wall panel, a damaged shelf beneath the pizza oven, and the floor covering and skirting, which was coming away from the wall beside the washup sink. 

There was also peeling paint to the walls of the store room, paper roll pushed into a hole in the ceiling, damaged and exposed brickwork, and “worn” painted floors. 

Inspectors told the venue to also repair or replace several items, including the seals on the doors of fridges and worn and rusty shelves in fridges. 

The ground floor room where drinks were stored was also found “in a dirty and untidy state” with “several miscellaneous items stored making cleaning and pest checks difficult”. 

In terms of confidence in management, staff training records and four weekly reviews had not been completed, and parts of the Safer Food Better Business pack had not been recorded, such as the date of completion on the front of the pack. 

Recommended reading:

Get more from The Northern Echo with a digital subscription. Click here.

Some concerns were also raised over recorded cooking temperatures.

The owner of Restaurant 17 previously told The Echo: "We have already made the improvements recommended by the Durham EHO, and are reapplying for our re-inspection.

"New equipment has been installed and everything is now ready for this inspection."