A HIGH Street butchers has received a one out of five food hygiene rating, following an inspection last month.

Worcestershire Regulatory Services visited Butcher's Block on May 8, when an inspector found the cleanliness of the business to be 'generally satisfactory', but identified eight issues that required 'immediate action'.

These included registering the premises, which was successfully carried out during the inspection, removing the food hygiene rating displayed for the previous occupier, and creating a new food hygiene policy.

Staff were told to carry out a 'thorough deep clean' of floors, walls, ceiling and equipment, and have discussions about date coding information on pork pies.

They were also instructed to fix a broken hand basin waste pipe, and discuss the use of sanitiser to ensure it is diluted correctly.

Butcher's Block owner Lorita Cornish said the business had already resolved most of the issues raised, and that the business is expected to be taken over by a new owner in the next few months.

She said: "When I bought the business a year ago I didn't know we had to re-register.

"Because the business was the same as the old one, but with a new name, our policy was the same as the previous shop's policy. But the inspector said we needed our own, which we now have.

"When I confronted staff about some of the problems, two of them walked out so we now have new staff.

"We had another inspection two weeks later and the inspector said we've made massive improvements, but that the rating couldn't be changed yet because of some decorative things that need doing, like the floor tiles are chipped.

"There were no issues with cross-contamination."

Worcestershire Regulatory Services confirmed they had conducted a follow-up visit, but that no further report was available.

Lorita said she hopes to confirm the sale of Butcher's Block to an 'experienced butcher' this week.