Worthing restaurant’s food hygiene rating slashed

The Denton Lounge, run by Worthing Theatres and Worthing Borough Council, serves breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea and dinners on a daily basis.

A spokeswoman for Worthing Theatres said: “The review, which took place in February, was at a time when we were finalising our latest phase of decorating and improvement works and also having staffing restructures which have led to a change in management.”

Worthing Theatres have categorically denied that a pest problem had anything to do with the drop in rating.

The kitchen’s hygiene and safety was rated ‘good’, but structural compliance and confidence in management were rated as ‘poor’ and ‘little’ respectively.

Damian Wilkins, manager of The Denton, said: “While we are disappointed by the outcome of the review, we have appealed the rating, requested a visit from Environmental Health Officers and will be working closely with them to ensure our rating is returned to the previous level of excellence. We have had fantastic feedback from customers since the improvements and look forward to continuing this trend.”

A follow up inspection is due to take place before the end of the month.