A Durham pizza takeaway is celebrating food hygiene success after jumping from a rating of one to five after a fresh inspection. 

LA Pizza, at 2 Empire Buildings, on Gilesgate, has been given the top scoring after inspectors returned to the takeaway earlier this week. 

The venue was previously told major improvement was necessary after a visit from food safety officers on September 23. 

A spokesperson for LA Pizza said it is “very happy” with the new scoring and was “especially grateful” for the support of customers over the last couple of months. 

They told The Northern Echo: “I would like to say that I am very happy that the LA Pizza team have pulled together to obtain our five-star hygiene rating and we are very grateful for the support from the Durham County Council Hygiene inspector for their input. 

“We are especially grateful for the support of our customers during this time. We have implemented new policies and procedures to ensure that we maintain this high standard and are looking forward to continuing to provide our customers with high-quality food.”

With a four-star rating on Google, LA Pizza has been praised online for its “delicious” food, with one happy customer even branding it the “best takeaway in Durham”. 

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One said: “This place has been the only one I have gone to every week for food since I moved to the North East. Excellent taste of food and nice members of staff. Recommendation: try the hot vegetarian pizza!”

As previously reported, several issues were raised at LA Pizza following the initial inspection, including some equipment being in disrepair, confusion over the use of tongs, and cooked chicken for pizza toppings being left to cool at room temperature “for an excessive time”.

Inspectors previously returned shortly after the September visit, noting that “very good improvements” had been made - with bosses saying issues were immediately addressed.