EALING has the most zero star establishments for food hygiene of any London borough.

A total of 42 businesses in Ealing were given the lowest rating by Food Standards Agency (FSA) inspectors and told they needed to improve in order to avoid being shut down.

Camden is second worst in London with 28 zero star establishments and Tower Hamlets was in third place with 21.

Olives, on Queens Parade near North Ealing station, claims the council is to blame for a zero star rating in hygiene after an unannounced inspection at the kebab takeaway on June 10.

Ahmed Khan, 33, who works at Olives, said: “The issue is the pest problem of mice that goes along all the buildings here.

“There is nothing wrong with our food otherwise we would have been shut down there and then.

“The pest issue has been reported more than 20 times to the council and nothing has been done.

“The grocery store here only got one star because of the same issue. That is why we got the zero.”

According to Ealing Council, the zero star rating is due to low performance in all areas of the business, including their find of rat faeces in the rear storage area at Olives.

A council spokesman said inspectors found a poor standard of cleaning throughout, a serious risk of cross contamination between raw and cooked or ready to eat foods and a kitchen too small for the activities to take place.

He claimed they were not aware of a pest complaint concerning the area and said a direct pest issue would not have a direct effect on the food business’s hygiene rating.

A spokesman said: “The council’s food inspectors found a number of issues that required urgent improvements, resulting in the business being awarded a food hygiene rating of zero out of five.

“The issues were all confirmed in writing to the takeaway at the end of the inspection, and improvements were noted when they were re-inspected days later.

“Their ratings will be reassessed at the next programmed inspection, which will again be unannounced.”

Any business serving or selling food must be inspected by the FSA, and is awarded one of six ratings with the highest being five stars.

The rating system takes into account how hygienically food is handled at the business, the condition and structure of the building, and how the business manages and records what it does to make sure food is safe.

Despite low ratings, all sites can remain open and the food safety officer will only take action when a business’ food is considered ‘an imminent risk to health’.

The eateries are under no legal obligation to display their awarded hygiene rating.

Check ratings at: http://ratings.food.gov.uk/default/en-GB