A NEW round of hygiene inspections has found that more than half of Bolton's restaurants, cafes and canteens have five star ratings.

This comes after new ratings were given to 16 of the borough's venues by the Food Standards Agency in partnership with Bolton Council.

In all, three of these restaurants, cafes and canteens were given new five star scores along with one takeaway, however it comes after a difficult time for the hospitality industry which was hit particularly hard by lockdown.

A spokesperson for Casa Di Tapas Restaurant, which was given a five star rating said: "It's not been very busy, since Corona hit everyone's been staying back.

"It's been a difficult time but we still go to work day by day and we hope more will be done to encourage people to come out more."

He agreed that more needed to be done by the government and local authorities to help revive the industry, however Bolton's strong food hygiene performance may yet go some way to restoring consumer confidence.

A five star rating means that the Food Standards Agency means that hygiene standards are very good and comply fully with the law, while structural compliance and the agency's confidence in a venue's management are also judged to be extremely strong.

The inspections are carried out, according to the Agency in order to give customers a clearer idea about the standards at the venues they frequent.

After the round of inspections that concluded on October 18 this year, a total of 196 out of Bolton's 388 restaurants, cafes and canteens with Food Hygiene Agency ratings, currently have ratings of five stars.

No restaurants currently have one or zero star ratings, though some other kinds of venues such as takeaways have been ranked lower.

Overall the following ratings have been given to five restaurants, cafes and canteens in the most recent round of inspections:

• Rated 5: Casa Di Tapas Restaurant at 116-120 Lee Lane, Horwich, Bolton; rated on October 14

• Rated 5: Mr C.C.C's at 3 Mill Hill Street; rated on October 12

• Rated 5: MFG Subway Grafton Station at 77 Chorley Old Road, Bolton; rated on October 8

• Rated 4: Goa Balti (Horwich) at 168 Chorley New Road, Horwich, Bolton; rated on September 9

• Rated 2: Leo's Restaurant/Pizzeria at 3-5 Chorley New Road, Horwich, Bolton; rated on February 6 2019

Pubs, bars and nightclubs

And one rating has been handed to a pub, bar or nightclub:

• Rated 4: Beeley' Bar at 2-4 Chorley New Road, Bolton; rated on September 9

Takeaways

• Rated 5: Poundbakery at 24 Market Street, Bolton; rated on August 17

• Rated 4: Coffee & Much More at 152 Chorley Old Road, Bolton; rated on September 7

• Rated 4: Mamas Grill at 168 Halliwell Road, Bolton; rated on September 7

• Rated 4: Poundbakery at 14 Newport Street, Bolton; rated on August 17

• Rated 4: Burgerum Limited at 252 Chorley Old Road, Bolton; rated on October

• Rated 3: Italiano at 337 Chorley New Road, Horwich, Bolton; rated on September 9

• Rated 2: Allen's Fried Chicken at 300 Chorley Old Road, Bolton; rated on September 9

• Rated 2: Peri Hut3 at 76 Egerton Street, Farnworth, Bolton; rated on September 9

• Rated 2: AK Grill & Curries at 74 Egerton Street, Farnworth, Bolton; rated on August 18

• Rated 1: A'La Pizza & Grill at 27 Plodder Lane, Farnworth, Bolton; rated on August 24