A Congleton takeaway has been given a food hygiene rating of 0 after a damning inspection was carried out by Food Safety officers.

The inspection found that Portobello Pizzeria, 42 Lawton Street, needed to make major and urgent improvements to their hygienic food handling, the cleanliness and condition of the premises and their management of food safety.

The Food Safety inspection was carried out last month.

Cheshire East Council operates the national Food Hygiene Rating Scheme, where 0 is 'Urgent Improvement Necessary' and 5 is 'Very Good'.

The food hygiene rating score was made up of three elements: confidence in management/control procedures, compliance with food hygiene and safety procedures and compliance with structural requirements.

At the time of the inspection there was no Food Safety Management System completed, stating how the kitchen was safe.

There were also no daily checks, or four weekly reviews recorded. The inspector stated that these should be completed by the manager to ensure that the procedures in the Food Safety Management System are being followed by staff.

The inspector found there was no written allergy information available for any of Portobello's dishes.

The report stated: "On speaking to staff, it was apparent that it was not clear what allergens were in the dishes, all kitchen staff must be aware of what allergens are in which dish.

"You must have the allergy information available for customers and ensure that this is kept up to date for any menu changes and specials.

"It is recommended that an allergy matrix is prepared for all dishes making sure to check all the ingredients in the dish (and what they contain)."

It is an offence to mislead an officer during a food inspection, but the report stated that Portobello staff were asked several times if there was any food stored upstairs, specifically in the chest freezer.

This was denied, however when opened there was a significant amount of food stored in the freezer for use in the takeaway.

It was noted during the inspection that there was no information in the Safer Food Better Business for acrylamide.

Food Business Operators now have a duty to put in place reasonable steps to reduce acrylamide in foods.

Acrylamide is a natural chemical that is formed when starchy foods such as bread and potatoes are cooked for long periods at a high temperature.

The report added: "There was no hot water throughout the premises, the shower installed is insufficient to adequately wash the equipment with hot enough water.

"Until the issue is fixed hot water from the urns provided must be used when cleaning equipment and the premises."

The report also found that the chest freezer upstairs was found to be "dirty" and the ceiling throughout the kitchen had wooden beams that were "difficult to keep clean and had cobwebs around them".

The officers stated that it did not appear as though staff were using the wash hand basin in the kitchen as there was no soap (or hygienic hand drying facilities for example paper towels).

At the start of the inspection the food handlers in the business were not wearing any protective clothing and did not put any on until prompted.

It was noted during the inspection that a paint brush was being used to spread butter onto bread.

The officer said: "This can lead to physical contamination of food and the brush itself cannot be adequately cleaned."

A doner kebab was being stored open in the kitchen chest freezer. This allowed the doner kebab to be contaminated by other food, which was in addition to being unclear when the food should be used by.

The findings highlighted it was apparent that several food items that had been frozen down/defrosted had no proper date labels on them to show that this had occurred. Out-of-date coleslaw was also found in the fridge.

Raw meat products were being stored above ready to eat foods in one of the service fridges. Ready to eat foods should be stored above raw meat or have a clear barrier between them.

At the time of the inspection there was no prepared sanitiser being used on site. Portobello were also strongly recommended to fit a new light on the staircase and to fix the damaged switch socket on the wall behind the cook line.

The shop offers a selection of pizza, pasta, hamburgers, kebabs and fresh salads.

In their last inspection in June 2018, Portobello received a hygiene rating of 3.

Nub News contacted Portobello for a response, but we didn't receive a reply.