44 takeaways "could be shut down" due to poor hygiene

The borough council revealed the scale of its concern after the town was ranked as the worst place in Yorkshire to eat in terms of hygiene in a report by environmental health consultants.

Encentre collated data from restaurants and takeaways which showed the borough was ranked bottom in the county for food hygiene in August and September.

The consultants compiled “scores on the doors” food hygiene ratings from restaurants and takeaways across the country and found Rotherham was the lowest-rated local authority area in the region and 22nd worst in the whole of the UK.

The council disputed the figures but said it was currently “targeting” 44 takeaway outlets with poor hygiene scores.

Karen Hanson, Rotherham Borough Council’s assistant director of community safety and Street Scene, said: “We feel that the statistics do not accurately represent the standard of food businesses in Rotherham, as 83 per cent of food businesses met food hygiene requirements. 

“Issues with documentation, rather than cleanliness or other hygiene related issues, are the main reason that some businesses fail to comply.

“We are currently targeting the 44 takeaway premises which have poor scores and will use a range of enforcement tools to bring about improvements.”

A council spokeswoman said possible action included “immediately closing premises down” should they find poor hygiene standards.

The authority would be providing links to documents to help them put food safety management systems in place, Ms Hanson said.

Encentre’s figures ranked Rotherham Borough Council as 338th out of 359 local authorities in the UK and the worst of 21 areas in Yorkshire.