A TAKEAWAY restaurant in Poole is “under investigation” by a public health watchdog who gave it the lowest hygiene rating possible.

A report from environmental health chiefs, who inspected California Fried Chicken, gave it a food hygiene rating of 0 out of 5.

It found that systems to ensure that food is safe to eat and that staff know about food safety needed major improvements.

Inspectors discovered the hygienic handling of food including preparation, cooking, re-heating, cooling and storage needed major improvement.

Similarly, the cleanliness of the Ringwood Road premises require major improvements.

Inspectors from the environmental health partnership of Bournemouth Christchurch and Poole Council undertook the visit on August 27.

The eatery has a one-and-a-half out of five-star rating on review site TripAdvisor as well as 90 “terrible” reviews.

One recent customer commented: “If you want a tasty meal avoid. The food is disgusting. Got a takeaway and the chips were undercooked the chicken was so dry it was hard to swallow it. Got a steak sub but did they forget the steak? Had one slice so thin it was more bread than anything. We complained so sent again. Did they just think who cares it was as bad as the first? Complained again but they were so rude they left my daughter in tears.”

With a mission to “deliver fast, fresh, quality food service”, California Fried Chicken claims to be one of the most well-known takeaways in the Dorset area.

The company reportedly takes great pride in the quality of its food and providing customers with courteous and helpful service.

Despite poor reviews, a branch of California Fried Chicken on Barrack Road in Christchurch received a food hygiene rating of 5 out of 5.

A BCP council spokesman said: “An inspection of the California Fried Chicken premises on Ringwood Road is currently ongoing. We are unable to provide comment until the inspection has been concluded.”

According to the restaurant’s owner, Umit Ozcali, the 0 rating from BCP council is wrong and that the poor score was due to a broken fridge and fan. He added that both appliances have since been replaced and the rating was not because of food.

He claims to have invited the council for another inspection and that the Ringwood Road branch is now under new management.