Kebab and Chicken House in Lymington forced to close after failing hygiene standards

A LYMINGTON takeaway has been forced to close after it failed to improve hygiene standards.

The Kebab and Chicken House in the town's Queen Street was issued an emergency closure notice by New Forest District Council last night (Wednesday) during a visit by environmental health officers.

They noted the restaurant had failed to provide hot running water for cleaning and handwashing, had poor standards of cleaning and hygiene practices, and poor maintenance of equipment.

A routine food hygiene inspection of the restaurant was made in May, and the business was issued with an improvement notice.

However, further visits showed there had not been "sufficient work" to show that procedures outlined in the notice had been complied with, an NFDC spokesperson said.

Joanne McClay, service manager for environmental health, said: "We do not issue these closure notices lightly, and this is the first one for a number of years.

"We will always try to work with a business so that matters are resolved, but when the public's safety is at stake we will not hesitate to take action."

The firm will not be allowed open until officers have revisited to ensure the takeaway meets the required standards.

Food hygiene rating scores can be checked on the Food Standards Agency website ratings.food.gov.uk/.

Concerns about food hygiene matters in the New Forest can be reported at newforest.gov.uk/article/1468/Food-hygiene-complaints or by phoning 023 8028 5411.