Lincoln village pub soars from zero to four hygiene rating

A highly rated Lincoln village pub has risen up from its previous zero hygiene rating to a much higher score of ‘four’, much to the delight of its landlord.

As previously reported, The White Hart in Nettleham received a zero out of five stars after an inspection on August 30.

West Lindsey District Council inspectors told management that their hygienic food handling needed major improvement, cleanliness of the building needed improvement, and management of food safety needed urgent improvement. The pub claimed at the time that inspectors were much happier after another visit at the start of October.

After an inspection on December 5, the pub now officially has a new higher rating score of four.

The pub now has a new higher food hygiene rating score of four. Photo: Food Standards Agency

Mark Allibone, the pub’s head chef and landlord, told The Lincolnite he is delighted with the higher score of four, which he said was the highest possible score it could have received on this occasion due to the previous rating.

Mark, who has been in charge at the pub for four years, said: “It’s fantastic. We never think of ourselves as a zero star and people come in saying it’s five star.

“Everything we do is home made and fresh to order. I buy and make everything myself and know everything that’s in the kitchen. I felt humble with all the regulars that have stayed with me, but sad with some of the things people previously said on social media.

“The inspector said that everything was in place and in order. When you hear zero stars you imagine much worse things, but we have never had any complaints or anything but positive reviews.

“It can be a tough business, pubs and restaurants aren’t what they used to be, but we’re going to carry on doing what we’re doing. We know we can still do good food and serve it well and we care about every plate of food that goes out.”

The pub also shared the news on its Facebook page, which was shared by over 100 people. Photo: White Hart Facebook page

When the news of the pub’s previous low hygiene rating first became public, Mark opened up his kitchen and invited anyone who wanted to to come and have a look, and a few people did.

He previously told The Lincolnite that the kitchen had a few problems on the day of the inspection, including the fridge going down and the sink being blocked, but that someone was already coming out to fix it.

The customers rate the pub very highly online, with an average of four and a half stars across nearly 500 reviews.