THERE will be a number of business owners who are far from happy with this newspaper this week after our report on their poor food hygiene inspection results – but the public has a right to know.

After all, the whole point of the Food Standards Agency's 'scores on the doors' hygiene rating scheme is to communicate with consumers so they can make an informed decision about where to buy food.

Although each business which received a zero or one rating will have their reasons for why they were graded so lowly, at the end of the day they have failed the inspection and thus their customers and only have themselves to blame.

A business does not get a zero or one rating unless something has seriously gone wrong and so, instead of making excuses, the owners and staff should focus their energy on improving standards so that, at their next inspection, they can come away with a higher mark.

When that happens, and they're proud to have their four or five rating, we'd welcome them to contact us for a new article.