THE owners of a popular takeaway restaurant in Prescot said they are ‘happy’ with their latest four-star hygiene after investing in a £14,000 refurbishment.

Uno Pizza’s last inspection took place by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) in September 2023 resulting in a ‘Good’ rating overall and a ‘Very Good’ rating for ‘hygienic food handling’. The restaurant said the improvements have come down to hard work, investing in new equipment, training for staff and structural fixes to the building as a whole.

The new rating represents a significant change for the business who were previously fined £35,000 for three food safety breaches and failing to maintain the required standards of food hygiene. As a result, the business was required to close immediately following a routine inspection by Environmental Health Officers from Knowsley Council in March last year.

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However, the business was allowed to reopen after ‘working hard’ to improve the physical space and its hygiene practices. This work paid off six months later when a FSA inspection resulted in their new four star Hygiene rating.

A spokesperson from Uno Pizza said: “We were happy that the inspectors saw the shop up to the standard of a four, but we are still working hard so that next time we’ll hopefully get the 5 star rating.”

The restaurant has also detailed a series of improvements they have made with a total cost of £14,000. These include large scale upgrades to the building, new equipment, fully trained staff and engaged regular deep cleaning services.

The spokesperson added: “Uno identified the structure of building facilitated the access and egress of rats. We have undertaken significant financial expenditure to bring the building standard up to scratch and eradicate this problem for good.”