ALMOST 90 per cent of Darlington’s eating establishments have achieved a five star hygiene rating, new figures show.

Darlington Borough Council has hailed the success of the food hygiene rating scheme at the start of National Food Safety Week, with 642 cafes, restaurants and canteens achieving the top rating across the town.

Under the hygiene scheme, food outlets are inspected by officers from the council who then feed the results back to a national website.

Outlets can be rated from zero – urgent improvement necessary – to five, very good, with inspections based on hygiene, good management and safe systems.

Councillor Chris McEwan, the council’s cabinet member for economy and regeneration, said: “It is great to see so many of the borough’s cafes and restaurants doing so well in terms of food safety and hygiene, and is testament to the combined hard work of these places and the environmental health team at the council.”

To review the food hygiene rating of a restaurant or business visit food.gov.uk/ratings and search by restaurant or location.