A popular pub and restaurant near Swadlincote has been criticised following a hygiene inspection which found out of date cheese, dead insects and an unattached freezer door.

A series of issues discovered at The Cricketts Inn in Burton Road, Acresford, also included a 'completed' cleaning schedule when tasks marked as complete had in fact not been carried out.

The Cricketts received a one-star hygiene rating by inspectors at South Derbyshire District Council after a surprise visit on March 14.

The worst rating is 0 from a hygiene inspection, while the highest is 5.

The inspector found a large amount of unlabelled cooked sliced and whole joints of meat stored in the freezer, and there were no records to show they had been cooked and cooled safely

Other issues included cheese which was 10 days out of date while some other food was unlabelled, with no indication of when the food should have been used by.

The Cricketts has blamed a management change for the poor score and said it had now addressed everything highlighted in the report.

Lisa Brooks, senior environmental health officer at the district council, conducted the report and also found a large amount of unlabelled cooked sliced and whole joints of meat stored in the freezer, with no records to show they had been cooked and cooled safely.

The freezer door was unattached

She added: “The door of one of the small freezers in the kitchen was totally unattached, so the door fell off when I opened it. This may affect the temperature and is a health and safety issue. The door must be repaired or the freezer taken out of use.”

There was also concern over possible contamination after the inspection also revealed that one of the Cricketts' small glass ‘Kilner’ type jars, used to store pate, was broken and cracked.

A jar used to store pate was cracked

The report said the jar was immediately taken out once chefs were made aware.

The inspector also noticed ‘some food was not covered to protect it from contamination (large amounts of Yorkshire puddings stacked in open crates in the freezer, containers of frozen soup)’.

Yorkshire puddings were not covered

It was also noted that there were ‘huge’ amounts of ice throughout the walk-in freezer, and so much stock in the freezer that it was difficult to access it to determine what was in there.

The kitchen’s cleanliness also drew criticism with the inspector who described it as ‘below what is expected.’

Walls and floors below and behind equipment were also criticised

She noticed food debris accumulating in walls and floors below and behind equipment; the kitchen bin and the taps at the wash hand basin; the basin itself; the towel dispenser, and the wall behind.

There was also a large amount of dead flying insects inside the electronic fly killer.

Finally, it was also noted that a cleaning schedule had been completed for the week so it appeared that tasks had already been signed off for later that week.

However, the inspector said: “It was also obvious due to the poor cleanliness, that tasks had been marked as complete, when they had not been undertaken.

“Core temperature records were filled in stating temperatures with a decimal point (eg 76.5⁰C), yet there was no probe available on site which had the ability to record decimal points.

There was debris around the sink

“There were various fridge/freezers numbered on your records, but the fridges and freezers themselves were not numbered.

"When I asked staff which fridge/freezer were which or their numbers, I was given different answers by different chefs.”

Victoria Wood, regional manager from the pub, said: "I would just like to say in response, that this is highly unusual and not normal practice for the site, and can only put the disappointing visit down to a management change.

The area around the bin was dirty

"We have since addressed the works and will be requesting a re-visit and re-score in the very near future.

"We have been working closely with the council, Marston's and relevant agencies and can reassure people that the new score will reflect the reality of the conduct at the site.

"The Cricketts has always been a popular and well-loved site in the years we have had it and previously, and we hope to continue this."