North Solihull's restaurant ratings revealed

OVER a dozen food outlets in North Solihull were told they needed to make major improvements during their last hygiene inspection.
A total of 16 premises locally received the dubious honour of a “one star rating” from food safety inspectors.
A couple of chip shops, a curry house and several convenience stores were among the businesses who received the ranking.
One takeaway in Chelmsley Wood performed even worse and is among just four outlets – from the hundreds inspected in Solihull – that currently has no stars at all. This means that urgent improvements need to be made to the hygiene standards.
It is worth noting that those businesses criticised for their cleanliness are far outnumbered by those who scored a perfect rating from inspectors.
Over 100 premises in the north of the borough were awarded with the coveted five star rating (15 in Castle Bromwich, 40 in Marston Green, 12 in Kingshurst, 16 in Smith’s Wood and 23 in Chelmsley Wood.)
This group included a number of the area’s most popular eateries – including Big Johns, in Cooks Lane, and the Kismet Indian Restaurant, on the Bradford Road.
The rating system is run by Solihull Council in conjunction with the Food Standards Agency and every business is judged by a strict set of food hygiene criteria.
The council said customers were increasingly paying attention to the number of stars that a company had received, and there was an onus on proprietors to work for a good rating.
Councillor Karen Grinsell, cabinet member for communities and partnerships, said: “Businesses should be rewarded for their efforts to maintain the best hygiene conditions in their restaurants.
“More and more people say they are checking the food hygiene rating of businesses before they go out to eat, which is great as it means people are rewarding businesses who strive to hit the requirements.”
Businesses are not required to display their rating, although the scores are readily available online at www.food.gov.uk/ratings