A Swindon kebab shop has seen its food hygiene rating drop from five to zero with management blaming the staff’s language barrier for the score.

Shaw Kebab House at the Shaw Village Centre on Ramleaze Drive was inspected by the Food Standards Agency on Monday, July 10.

The inspection found that major improvement was necessary in regard to the hygienic handling of food including preparation, cooking, re-heating, cooling and storage.

Manager Shahroqkhan Jabarkhel has claimed the cause of the significant drop-off in ratings was the language barrier that existed between inspectors and the staff.

“The workers in the shop do not have great English and when the inspectors came in they had trouble,” he said.

“The shop itself is clean but it’s just the food hygiene knowledge that was lacking but overall the shop is really clean and has good hygiene.

“The staff have just come new from Turkey and their English is weak so there was a language barrier.”

The 20-year-old previously ran the eatery but stayed on in a managerial role to help the new owners.

“We were not very impressed as the owner has put in a lot of work recently with new signs and a new back toilet as well as ordering a lot of cleaning equipment,” said Shahroqkhan.

Swindon Advertiser: Shaw Kebab House has a wide variety of food options on the menu.Shaw Kebab House has a wide variety of food options on the menu. (Image: Shaw Kebab House)

“A lot of things have been improved but we think it's unfair given the language barrier.

“We have a big menu with many different types of meat and a lot of stuff going on here so it’s harder but there’s no excuse, I just think we deserved at least a three.”

The report also deemed that major improvement was also necessary in regard to the checks in place to ensure that food sold is safe to eat and staff’s knowledge about food safety.

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Shahroqkhan is hoping for a higher score from the next inspection given the kebab shop’s previous top ratings.

“We got a five last year and the year before was also a five,” he said.

“They said they would have to come down and do another check and I have found some translations online for the staff so they know a lot more now and it should be fine.

“Most of our books were filled out and we were checking our fridges and equipment but it was just the language barrier for the staff explaining to the council.”