TWO restaurants deemed to require major improvements have been re-inspected by food hygiene officials from Swindon Borough Council.

The Food Standards Agency, the independent government agency that publishes food hygiene ratings on behalf of the authority, has confirmed new scores will be published for the Saracen’s Head Hotel in Highworth and the Taj Mahal at Shaw Ridge Leisure Park.

The Saracens Head Hotel was rated as a 0 on June 22, 2017, with food hygiene inspectors stating “urgent improvement necessary”. But inspectors returned to the Arkell’s-owned hotel on January 19 and carried out a follow-up inspection, and have now awarded it a 4. This score is expected to be updated on the government’s website soon.

The Taj Mahal has also been re-inspected and the council confirmed yesterday that its inspectors had awarded the restaurant – rated a 1 in January 2017 – a score of 4.

A council spokesman said: “Both the Taj Mahal and the Saracen’s Head Hotel were re-inspected as of 30 January and they were both awarded a four-star rating after carrying out the necessary improvements as outlined by our officers. This information will be uploaded to the FSA website once the 21-day appeal period has lapsed. As this is FSA brand standard, we have no control over when changes to the scores are made on its website.”