Landos BBQ on Eastbank Street was rated 1 in September. Across Sefton, 22 of 92 September inspections scored below 5; October's 56 so far are nearly all 5s.
One Southport takeaway was given a food hygiene rating of 1 in September. Landos BBQ, at 31 Eastbank Street, was inspected on 3 September, and its rating has now appeared on the Food Standards Agency register. A rating of 1 means major improvement is necessary.
It is one of 22 September inspections across Sefton that scored below the top mark of 5. Those lower ratings were not on the register when we published our first look at September on 6 October. That is how the system works: a 5 goes online straight away, but a rating of 0 to 4 is held back for the business’s 21-day appeal window (Food Standards Agency).
The quick answer
- September across Sefton: 92 inspections, 70 rated 5 and 22 rated below 5.
- Southport (PR8 and PR9): 34 inspections, 31 rated 5. The other three were a 1, a 3 and a 4.
- Formby: no September inspection scored below 5.
- Lowest in the borough: two 1s, Landos BBQ in Southport and Famous Blue Star in Maghull.
- October so far: 56 ratings published, 55 of them 5s. Lower October scores will follow later this month.
September’s full picture
The register now holds 92 Sefton inspections dated 2 to 30 September. On 6 October all 70 then published were 5s. The 22 added since are all lower:
- 14 were rated 4
- 4 were rated 3
- 2 were rated 2
- 2 were rated 1
No business was rated 0.
The lowest September ratings
These are the eight September inspections that scored 3 or below. Each links to its record on the register.
| Venue | Where | Rating | Inspected |
|---|---|---|---|
| Landos BBQ | 31 Eastbank Street, Southport | 1 | 3 Sep |
| Famous Blue Star | 1 Dover Road, Maghull | 1 | 9 Sep |
| BigBites | 21-23 Crosby Road North, Waterloo | 2 | 15 Sep |
| Cantinetta | Glenn Buildings, South Moor Lane, Crosby | 2 | 18 Sep |
| Kelly’s Discount | 28 Kirkstone Road North, Litherland | 3 | 3 Sep |
| McPizza | 72 Seaforth Road, Seaforth | 3 | 3 Sep |
| Xen News | 132 Linacre Road, Litherland | 3 | 4 Sep |
| Hollys Mini Mart | 205 Heathfield Road, Birkdale | 3 | 8 Sep |
Apart from Landos BBQ and Hollys Mini Mart in Birkdale, all of them are in the south of the borough. Maghull, Crosby and Waterloo are roughly 10 to 12 miles from Southport as the crow flies.
A rating of 2 means improvement is necessary, and a 3 means hygiene standards are generally satisfactory. None of the eight businesses has published a right of reply on the register.
The one other Southport-area rating below 5 was a 4, for Reliance Service Station at 555 Liverpool Road, Ainsdale, inspected on 8 September. The other 13 ratings of 4 were all in the south of the borough.
October so far: almost all 5s
Fifty-six October inspections are on the register so far, dated 2 to 28 October. Fifty-five are 5s. The one 4 is for Gate Of India at 42 South Road, Waterloo, inspected on 28 October.
That will change in the same way September did. Lower October ratings are likely to appear from mid November, once each appeal window has passed.
Thirty-seven of the October 5s are in Southport and Formby. They include:
- Black Market Coffee, 2 Market Street
- Enelles Glasshouse, 241b Lord Street
- Iguana Soul, 49 Tulketh Street
- Mooish, 17 Marble Place
- The Crafty Dog, 4c Bold Street
- Cove, 25-29 Liverpool Road, Birkdale
- Platform X, 51b Weld Road, Birkdale
- Hesketh Coffee & Bakehouse, 28 Hesketh Drive
- The Woollen Pig, 164 Rufford Road
- Waterfields, 18 Station Road, Ainsdale
- The Tea Rooms, 22 Chapel Lane, Formby
- The Olive Grove, The Beacons, Halsall Lane, Formby
- Formby Grill House and Pizzeria, 35 Brows Lane, Formby
Southport against the rest of the borough
Southport still scores well above the rest of Sefton. Of 847 rated food businesses with a PR8 or PR9 postcode, 797 hold a 5. That is 94%.
Across the rest of the borough, 998 of 1,290 rated businesses hold a 5, or 77%. Across Sefton as a whole it is 1,795 of 2,137, or 84%.
Across the whole register:
- no business in Sefton holds a 0
- 17 are rated 1, four of them in Southport
- 20 are rated 2, three of them in Southport
- 117 are listed as awaiting inspection, 31 of them in Southport
What it means for you
Check before you order. Search any venue by name or postcode on the Food Standards Agency site. Each rating shows the date of the inspection it is based on.
A low rating is a snapshot, not a closure. It records conditions on the day of the visit. A business can appeal within 21 days, publish a right of reply on the register, and ask Sefton Council for a re-inspection once it has made improvements (Food Standards Agency). If any of the businesses named here are re-rated, the register will show the new score.
Run a food business? A request for a re-inspection, or to publish a rating before the appeal window closes, goes in writing to Sefton Council, the local authority that rated you, as the FSA guidance above sets out.
We publish a Sefton food hygiene round-up at the start of each month. The December edition will show which October inspections scored below 5.
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