AN Italian restaurant in Warrington has issued a statement reassuring customers after receiving a low food hygiene rating.

Il Cortile in Culcheth has been hit with a one-star score following an inspection by the Food Standards Agency.

The score is now visible on the agency’s website following an assessment made following a visit to the Common Lane venue on August 15.

Inspectors said that the hygienic handling of food, including preparation, cooking, re-heating, cooling and storage, was ‘generally satisfactory’.

However, in terms of the cleanliness and condition of facilities and building, including having appropriate layout, ventilation, hand washing facilities and pest control, to enable good food hygiene, ‘improvement was necessary’, it was deemed.

Moreover, ‘major improvement was necessary’ over the management of food safety, involving system or checks in place to ensure that food sold or served is safe to eat, as well as evidence that staff know about food safety, and the food safety officer has confidence that standards will be maintained in future.

A business has the right to reply to its local authority about the food hygiene rating given, and this is published on the FSA website.

It states: “All structural issues highlighted during the inspection have been rectified, and refrigerated storage is now at full capacity as repairs were completed the day after the inspection, as previously planned.

“Multiple fridge breakdowns on the day and days previous resulted in a huge reduction of chilled storage, affecting normal procedures due to high volumes of chilled stock needing to be stored in a much-reduced space.

“This was repaired on August 16, as booked before the inspection date.

“The absence of the head chef for two weeks on compassionate leave, and the absence of two full-time kitchen team members for four weeks prior to inspection, impacted heavily.

“The head chef is now back in place and the kitchen team is back to normal levels to operate. Also, further recruitment is taking place and labour planning addressed.”

Il Cortile issued a note to all customers on its Facebook page stating: “As we are sure you are aware, we take the health and safety of our customers extremely seriously.

“Several weeks ago, we received a lower-than-expected hygiene rating, which does not reflect the high standards and five-star rating we have upheld for the past eight years.

“All issues highlighted were addressed immediately, and all structural issues were resolved within 48 hours of the inspection.

“Your trust is our top priority, and we remain committed to providing you with the best dining experience possible.

“We are awaiting our revisit from Warrington Borough Council.

“If any of our valued customers would like to view any part of our restaurant to see how committed we are to our standards, we would be more than happy to show you around.

“Likewise, if you should have any questions, then please feel free to contact our management team, who will be more than happy to answer them.

“Many thanks for your continued support.”