The co-landlord of a village pub has revealed it’s ‘great’ that his business has been given a five-star food hygiene rating.

Roland ‘Roley’ May, runs the Russell Arms in Butler’s Cross near Aylesbury alongside his wife, Katy.

And despite being visited by locals in the area, as well as those out of Buckinghamshire due to the duo’s huge following on TikTok, where they have 1.5 million followers, the establishment was given a two-star rating following an inspection in July.

However, after correcting the wrongs from their initial examination, they have now gained a score of five-out-of-five.

Roley told the Free Press: “We had no excuses and we were accountable so we held our hands up to the things that needed to be changed.

“There were no issues online or on socials about what happened [with the low score], because getting a rating of two isn’t what we want.

“It was actually a disaster, but it wasn’t down to cleanliness as such, it was down to management, paperwork and a couple of nativities of running a kitchen.

“For example, stuff like bins having flip lids and our floor in the storage room needed a new lino put on.

“It’s small things like that which can impact you, but we got the report, and put everything right within a few days after the inspection.

“They came back and inspected everything like they did the first time.

“So to get the five is great."

Despite the initial low hygiene rating (before their re-inspection), locals and regulars still visited the establishment, which boasts an average score of 4.2/5 from 611 reviews.

The pub has since hired a new head chef and believes ‘they are being steered in right direction’ ahead of the Christmas period.

He added: “It’s also important to note that you don’t want to be ready just for an inspection, you need to be ready in your having an inspection every day as we need to keep the standards up.”

Finally, Roley has urged everyone in the county to visit their local boozer following a rapid decline of pubs in the UK.

So far this year, the average rate is 50 closures per month.

Speaking on the pubs shutting their doors, which is down to a lack of customers and high running costs, he concluded: “It’s crazy to see.

“We’re a pub in a small village so we know that we can’t just rely on drinks – we need to do food too.

“We’re a community-owned pub so we’re strongly supported by the community which is great and being able to bring people in via our social media following has also helped.

“But we need locals to come in and visit the pub, buy food and drink and support us and that’s the same for all the pubs.

“If you love pubs, there’s no point staying at home at saying ‘it’s a shame that pubs are closing’.

“You need to go to pubs – that’s the only way to stop them from closing.

“Know a good pub? Go there.”