A TAKEAWAY in Warrington town centre has been handed a new food hygiene rating.

Shawarma Express was recently inspected by Warrington Borough Council in terms of cleanliness.

The Bridge Street venue offers Mediterranean chicken and lamb shawarma, as well as falafel wraps, pizzas, burgers and ‘much more’.

Following the inspection, the Food Standards Agency has confirmed that the takeaway was handed a two-out-of-five food hygiene rating.

The inspection assessment was made on October 14, with ratings given in three categories, as well as the overall rating of ‘improvement necessary’.

The hygienic handling of food, including preparation, cooking, re-heating, cooling and storage, was said to be ‘generally satisfactory’.

The same rating was given to the management of food safety system and checks in place to ensure that food sold or served is safe to eat.

This category includes evidence that staff know about food safety, and the food safety officer has confidence that standards will be maintained in future.

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

Of Warrington's 198 takeaways with ratings, 102 (52 per cent) have ratings of five and none have zero ratings.