AN INDIAN restaurant in Bournemouth town centre was rapped with a damning zero food hygiene rating.

Mint Leaf Indian Brasserie in The Triangle was visited by a council officer, who flagged a series of immediate concerns that needed to be addressed.

A subsequent visit took place the next day to ensure action had been taken.

New owners have now taken over the business since the inspection in November last year.

The report from the inspection found urgent improvement was necessary to tackle management of food safety shortcomings, while major improvement was needed in terms of hygienic food handling and cleanliness and condition of facilities.

The visit to the premises took place in late November and published on the Food Standards Agency website in the past couple of weeks.

Issues raised in the report included no hot water to maintain hygiene and cleaning, cooked meats kept in shopping bags in the freezer and food debris on the floor of the walk-in chiller.

The owner of the business at the time, who was present for the inspection, was instructed to get the boiler fixed urgently.

Until this had been done he was told to use the stove and kettle to boil hot water to maintain hygienic practices.

The business had previously received a food hygiene rating of four following an inspection in 2016.

Signage at the premises suggests the business has recently been taken over by new owners and a council officer confirmed this had occurred since the zero rating had been given.

Plans are in place to carry out a reinspection of the establishment.

Louise Jones, Bournemouth Borough Council’s environmental health manager, said: “A food hygiene inspection was carried out by the council’s environmental health officer on November 22 2018 and there were a number of food safety concerns recorded.

“This has resulted in the business receiving a food hygiene rating of zero. The business has now changed ownership and is awaiting its next inspection. We will continue to monitor the business to ensure that it is fully compliant.”

Other areas raised by the November visit to the premises included the need to clean the entire premises, with a focus on sinks, wash hand basins, fridges, freezers, walls and floors.

A documented food safety management system needed to be implemented and the shopping bags containing cooked foods in the freezer had to be thrown out.

The zero rating for Mint Leaf came just a month after China Bamboo also received the lowest possible score.

Following the latter’s zero rating from Bournemouth council officers, magistrates at Poole made an emergency prohibition order to close the takeaway in Seabourne Road, Southbourne.

The court action in December 2018 came after a request by the council.