THE owner of two Forest chippies is celebrating after being award a fifth five-star award for high standards of hygiene.

Al's Plaice in the centre of Coleford has been awarded its third top hygiene rating from the Forest of Dean District Council which goes along with the two awarded to the shop in Whitecroft.

Owner Alex Weiss said: "I'm delighted to have received a fifth five star rating for our high standards of hygiene.

"The real thanks go to the managers of the two shops – Niki Radcliffe and Nicky Howells – and the staff.

"We want to ensure that our customers can have absolute confidence when they buy from our shops and we actually do a lot more than the required standard."

The food hygiene rating scheme was introduced by the Food Standards Agency to allow members of the public to check online if a restaurant, takeaway or food business has a good standard of food hygiene.

Businesses are rated between five, which means very good, and zero where urgent improvement is needed.

The Forest Council's Cabinet member for Environment, Cllr Martin Quaile (Con, Littledean and Ruspidge) said the vast majority of local food businesses scored higher than a three in the ratings which is satisfactory.

He added: "The local food business Al's Plaice has been rated as five at every inspection since the business opened in 2010 and should be congratulated for achieving and maintaining this high standard. 

"Our food and safety officers work closely with local food providers to help them improve and maintain an acceptable food hygiene rating."

In the Forest 272 businesses (48 per cent) are rated as five (very good), 131 (23 per cent) have a rating of four, 124 (22 per cent) have a rating of three (generally satisfactory), 27 (five per cent) have a rating of two (improvement required), 12 (two per cent) have a rating of one (major improvement needed) and four (one per cent) have a rating of zero (urgent improvement needed).

For information on the food hygiene ratings scheme visit http://www.food">www.food. gov.uk/ratings or contact the council's food and safety team on 01594 812418.