大象传媒

Some of Wales鈥� least hygienic takeaways and pubs are flouting the law by failing to display their poor food hygiene ratings, an investigation by 大象传媒 Wales鈥� X-Ray programme has revealed.聽

And when undercover X-Ray researchers visited zero rated food premises in the Vale of Glamorgan all but one failed to disclose their score.

Wales is the only part of the UK where customers have a legal right to know the food hygiene rating of their local caf茅 or takeaway.聽 Scores range from a 鈥渧ery good鈥� five to zero, meaning 鈥渋n need of urgent improvement鈥�.

Stickers featuring the score must be prominently displayed and staff must tell customers their score if they ask.聽 There is a 拢200 fixed penalty notice for failing to do this.

Whilst food premises which have a high score display their scores prominently 鈥� in some cases on giant banner adverts 鈥� X-Ray has found that some of the least hygienic break the law and lie about their ratings.

The programme targeted the Vale of Glamorgan which had the highest proportion of zero-rated food outlets in Wales, according to the Food Standards Agency鈥檚 website. An X-Ray researcher visited all of those in the county which should have been displaying a zero rating.

No hygiene scores were seen at any of the premises 鈥� and when undercover researchers asked, only one restaurant 鈥� the Sully Inn near Barry - was honest about the score.

In Barry, Pizza Knight and Mariano鈥檚 Pizzeria claimed not to have a score, the Far East takeaway falsely claimed theirs was under review and Romeo Pizza said they had a 鈥榞ood鈥� rating of four.

Rob Wilkins from the Food Standards Agency, which oversees the Food Hygiene Rating Scheme, was concerned by the findings. 鈥淚t鈥檚 clearly not what the legislation was introduced for. Customers can expect to see stickers in windows and they can expect an honest answer from food business operators. For those businesses that are not prepared to partake in it there are sanctions and they should be applied.鈥�

At least 45 businesses in Wales have already received 拢200 fixed penalty notices for failing to display their hygiene ratings and there have been several prosecutions for repeated breaches of the law.

When asked why they failed to display their zero sticker, The Sully Inn said they removed it when their door was re-glazed, but it has now been replaced and their rating has increased to 鈥�1鈥�. The Far East takeaway didn鈥檛 comment but is now showing its score. Romeo Pizza claim to have lost their sticker and both Pizza Knight and Mariano鈥檚 Pizzeria blame drunk customers for stealing theirs.

Mariano鈥檚 Pizzeria insists that a sticker was on display. But on the three occasions X-Ray researchers looked for it they didn鈥檛 see it, perhaps because it was high on a window and partially obscured by shutters. The Vale of Glamorgan council insists all scores must be clearly visible. They are now investigating all of these businesses and considering enforcement action against them.

Supporters of the scheme say that 鈥� despite X-Ray鈥檚 finding 鈥� the scheme has led to a big improvement in the hygiene standards of food premises since it was introduced in 2013. More than half of the country鈥檚 25,000 food premises now have a top rating of 5.

When Carl James picked up his second hand Mercedes from PW Millar in Barry last year, the last thing he expected was for it to burst into flames. He then got another shock when the garage told him he would not be refunded and would have to claim on his own insurance.

Carl, a railway manager from Pontlliw near Swansea, collected his dream car from PW Millar in October 2014. It was just two years old with 12,000 miles on the clock and still under manufacturer鈥檚 warranty. Altogether it cost him 拢18.000

But shortly after leaving the garage, Carl鈥檚 grin was replaced with shock as the car began to fail.

鈥淚 was driving through Five Mile Lane on the way to the A48 and certain error messages started to appear on the dash board鈥�, he said. 聽鈥淚 pulled into the layby and the brake pedal didn鈥檛 depress at all.鈥�

Carl managed to bring the car to a stop about 70 yards up a lane. Then flames started licking out of the engine bay.

Just half an hour after picking it up, the Mercedes was completely destroyed by flames which Carl says reached 20ft in height.

While staff did return his part-exchanged Peugeot temporarily, PW Millar鈥檚 insurance company concluded the car had been working properly at the time of purchase and blamed Carl鈥檚 driving for the fire.

PW Millar told him they wouldn鈥檛 be replacing his Mercedes and he should claim on his own insurance.

When X-Ray wrote to PW Millar they told us they couldn鈥檛 refund Carl because their insurance had refused to pay out.

But since then PW Millar鈥檚 insurers have had a change of heart; they now accept it wasn鈥檛 Carl鈥檚 fault and they鈥檙e going to cover the full bill.