A TOWN centre restaurant claims it is the victim of poor timing after receiving a damning environmental health report.

15 Cairo Bar and Restaurant, on Cairo Street, has been slammed by council environmental health officers for poor hygiene standards.

It received a zero rating, out of a possible five stars, for food hygiene compliance on trading standards' Scores on the Doors' website.

In an inspection on December 11, an environmental health officer found a number of food safety breaches, including: l A build-up of food debris on the floor at the pass area of the kitchen and on wheels of ovens in the kitchen l A build-up of food debris and grease debris on the floor at the cooking area of the kitchen.

l A corridor at the back of the restaurant was littered and there was a bag of rubbish placed there.

l The internal surfaces of the service refrigerator was not clean.

l The external surfaces of the oven and deep fat fryer were not kept clean.

l The oven burners, oven splashbacks and trays and racks of the broiler oven were not kept clean, either.

The inspector said raw materials and ingredients were not kept in appropriate conditions to protect them from contamination. Re-usable containers had been placed on top of other clingfilmed foods and had appropriate records had not been maintained.

Numerous complaints had also been made about litter and food debris outside the restaurant's bin area, although sightings of rats were never confirmed.

Inspectors re-visited the premises on December 13 and found work had begun to improve conditions. In a further inspection, carried out on January 18, the restaurant was deemed to have excellent cleanliness'.

But the restaurant's zero rating will remain on the Scores on the Doors website until its next formal inspection.

Alan Holt, principal environmental health officer, said: "15 Cairo has complied with our requirements since the last inspection.

"We have been running Scores on the Doors since January 2006 and since that time we have seen a big improvement in compliance with hygiene requirements.

"The scheme rewards good premises and the poorer premises are open to public awareness."

Neil Trainer, director of 15 Cairo, accepted a simple caution on February 7 for the restaurant's failure to meet basic hygiene requirements.

He said: "The inspector came in the middle of service in our busiest period in December.

"We have a massively busy kitchen and it's the cleanest in Warrington, but how can we clean up in the middle of service?

"We have just been nominated for two food awards and I would like to invite any customer to come down to the kitchen by appointment and see how it works."

* Log on to the Scores on the Doors website at: http://www.scoresonthedoors.org.uk/clients.php.