A fish and chip shop in Beaconsfield that falsely claimed it went from a zero to five food hygiene rating in one month has been handed a three-out-of-five score by Buckinghamshire Council.

Tom, the general manager of The Old Town Friar on London End, told the Free Press this month that he had requested a reinspection of the business after it received a zero food hygiene rating in April.

He said the returning inspector had given the shop a new top score of five-out-of-five for food hygiene, denoting 'very good' standards, after finding that the previous low score was due to out-of-date recordkeeping.

However, a spokesperson for the council disputed this claim and said the fish and chip shop owner had been asked "on numerous occasions" to remove an invalid five-out-of-five hygiene sticker from its window, to no avail.

The Food Standards Agency has now published the findings of the second inspection, which took place on May 7, and resulted in a three-out-of-five score being handed to the management.

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The reinspection found food handling, cleanliness and safety practices at The Old Town Friar to all be of a "generally satisfactory" standard.

Speaking earlier this month, Tom stuck to his guns and reasserted that, despite the council's objection, the second inspector had told him the shop would receive a new five rating.

He also said the out-of-date sticker had not been removed from the window because of complications related to the unit's rental status, adding that he was in the process of trying to detach it using adhesive.