A WELL-known Indian restaurant inside one of Warrington’s landmarks has been hit with a shocking zero-star food hygiene rating.

The Cottage, also known as Cromwell’s Cottage, was visited by inspectors from the Food Standards Agency on July 24.

The Grade II-listed building on Church Street has been used as an Indian restaurant and takeaway following a National Trust-approved renovation in the early noughties.

Described as ‘the finest Indian and Bangladeshi cuisine in Cheshire’, the business is rated four stars on TripAdvisor and is well-known.

However, when inspectors visited the property, they issued it a shocking zero-star rating, finding it needed ‘urgent improvement’.

The ratings are issued by the Food Standards Agency and are publicly available online.

Ratings range from five, very good, to zero, requires urgent improvement.

The Food Standards Agency does not disclose the full reasonings behind the ratings, but it does reveal general areas requiring improvement.

Upon inspection, the cleanliness and condition of the facilities was reported to need improvement.

The Cottage was also noted to require ‘major improvement’ in hygiene food handling, which includes the preparation, cooking and storage of food.

The management of food safety, including the checks in place to ensure food sold is safe to eat, was also found to be severely inadequate.

The rating is available to view of the Food Standards Agency website.