THE landlord of a Basingstoke pub that was handed a low food hygiene rating has said sorry to his punters and promised immediate improvements.

The Queens Arms in Bunnian Place was inspected by the Food Standards Agency on March 10.

Its kitchen, run by Thai restaurant business Narong Thai, was given a score of one out of five, meaning a major improvement is necessary.

However landlord Nick Allen, who has run the pub for the last 11 years, said he was deeply sorry for the low score and vowed to clean up.

READ MORE: The latest 13 food hygiene ratings from across Basingstoke and Deane

Nick said: "We are trying to get it right. We have always had four or five stars before but this took us by surprise. I have been here for over 11 years and my record has been exemplary.

"It is unfortunate that this has happened. But to come down from four or five stars to one has shocked us, and all down to the old-ness of our kitchen.

"Times have been tough over the past two years and we haven't had the money to invest and upgrade.

"We know that it needs to be done. We have got some work to do to put it right but I want to reassure people that we are on it. We are putting things right."

Nick said that he will be shutting the kitchen later this month for a few weeks in order to deep clean and to put down new flooring, after inspectors logged ripped lino as a concern.

He also said he will be working with the Thai business, who took over the kitchen in September, to ensure that paperwork is correctly filled in and to address any language barriers.

The business will be re-inspected within the next three months.

Nick said: "It was all going well and we opened up to good reviews. However it has gone pear-shaped.

"We pride ourselves on what marks we get, you can see that we care because of how long we have been there.

"We have got three months to put it right, and we will do so."

The pub side of the business has been unaffected and will stay open throughout the refurbishment.

Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council’s interim head of environment and community services Robert Draper said: “We can confirm that the Narong Thai at the Queens Arms in Bunnian Place was given a food hygiene rating of ‘One - Major Improvement Necessary’ on Thursday, March 10 2022. 

"The council’s environmental health team is working with the business to ensure that the deficiencies found at the time of the inspection are rectified.” 

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