Place where thousands of Indian takeaway meals are prepared receives shockingly bad food hygiene rating in Milton Keynes

Bengal Spice, also known as MK Tawa and Steak House, cooks its food in a unit at Wellington Place, a small industrial area near the Blue Lagoon in Bletchley.

Inspectors from the Food Standards Agency visit the premises on July 17 and found it filthy and infested with cockroaches.

They awarded it a zero rating, which means urgent improvements were necessary.

This was swiftly followed up with action from Milton Keynes City Council, whose Environmental Health team went to court to get a Hygiene Emergency Prohibition Order to close the place down temporaily.

They said the kitchen was “crawling with cockroaches and in a filthy condition” and posed a risk to the health of customers.

The order stated that the premises had to remain closed until it was cleaned up. And MK Magistrates ordered the business to pay a total of £1,195.87 to cover the costs of the case.

The owners promptly launched a deep clean and by the end of July, council inspectors were satisfied it could re-open.

Bengal Spice is now trading as normal through, advertising its food on Just East and Deliveroo and it can apply for another Food Standards Agency inspection in a bid to lift its off-putting zero rating.

Of Milton Keynes's 261 takeaways with ratings, 173 (66%) have ratings of five, which is the best possible score. Only Bengal Spice curently has a zero rating.

The council’s Cabinet member for Regulatory Services, Cllr Mick Legg, said at the time the closure order was granted: “Our Environmental Health team play an important role in ensuring premises comply with the law and don’t put customers in harm’s way. This sends a clear message that any premises that are not adhering to safety regulations will be found out, and forced to take action by us and by the courts.

He added: "In this case, the restaurant addressed the issues quickly and we will continue to monitor conditions to ensure they uphold the standards expected of them.”