An electric fly killer stored above a rice cooker and staff not seen washing their hands regularly has led to a Norwich Thai restaurant receiving zero stars for food hygiene.
The owners of The House Thai Restaurant, in Queens Road, say they are "disappointed" with their latest food hygiene rating which saw them get the lowest score out of five.
The inspector, who visited the premises on November 11 last year, reported issues including poor cleaning and sanitation and inadequate staff training and hygiene.
Staff were also seen using poor practices which could have led to contamination risks.
But responding to the rating, a spokesman from The House said improvements have been made and they have arranged a reinspection where they hope to claw back their five-stars.
They said: “Our team are so sad and disappointed about the rating.
“After the inspection we asked them to come back a few days later and they were happy with everything. The inspector told us to apply for the revisit - which is normally after three months.
“We improved everything straight away. We are very serious about it.
“It’s sad because we had five stars for so many years.”
In the report it states that raw foods were being stored next to ready-to-eat food, an electric fly killer was stored above rice cooker and a petrol can and can of paint were being kept among food in the storeroom.
Some 25 items were reported as being “dirty” and required cleaning including the fridge, freezer, microwave, food storage containers and cooker hob.
Staff were also not seen washing their hands regularly enough and showed examples of “poor personal hygiene.”
The inspector wrote: “Food handlers were wearing jewellery and watches and wearing nail varnish.
“The wash-hand basin was not in regular use.
“Remind all food handlers of the need to wash their hands before starting or returning to work, and specifically after using the toilet, after handling rubbish, after smoking, after taking a break and after handling raw food.”
Another issues included frozen raw meat being defrosted at room temperature “in a manner that caused concern”.
There are currently 15 businesses in Norwich with a hygiene rating of one or below.
For more information visit Norwich City Council's website here.
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