HYGIENE levels of restaurants and takeaways in Comet country were unveiled last week, as part of the council backed Scores on the Doors scheme.

The scheme has been running for the last five years, and covers Stevenage, North Herts and Central Bedfordshire.

Every premises serving food in these districts, including restaurants, takeaways, company canteens, schools and care homes, are rated from zero to five stars by environmental inspectors who make regular visits.

According to authorities, its aim is to give restaurateurs the incentive to improve their hygiene and other vital criteria.

In North Herts, the number of establishments earning the highest possible mark of five stars had tripled from 35 in June 2009 to 108 by the end of last year.

“It’s clear that standards in North Herts have improved since we launched Scores on the Doors thanks to an increased awareness of food hygiene amongst businesses and residents,” said Cllr Bernard Lovewell, NHDC portfolio holder for housing and environmental health.

“The scheme has proved to be extremely popular as a clear and simple way of letting people find out more about where they buy their food from.”

Although there were slightly fewer establishments rated five stars this year in Stevenage than last, there were no big changes to ratings.

Stevenage Borough Council said that it was a useful scheme which gave the public greater choice when choosing.

“The Scores on the Doors scheme not only drives up food hygiene standards in the town, but also gives the public a more informed choice about where to eat,” said Cllr Richard Henry, executive member for stronger and safer communities.

North Herts District Council states that: A rating of zero indicates that, although the food produced is safe to eat, there are significant food safety issues that the business needs to address. At the other end of the scale, a rating of five shows that excellent standards of food hygiene were demonstrated at the time of inspection.

Click on the links on the right hand side to view scores for Stevenage, North Herts and Central Beds