A POPULAR city centre wine bar has applied to the council to be tested again after having a zero food hygiene score for more than a year.

Inspectors slammed 1855 Oxford Wine Bar after finding no hot water at the premises, untrained staff and confit duck which was incorrectly dated.

Management voluntarily closed the bar briefly and city council environmental health officers issued urgent orders to fix the problems in January 2016 - with imprisonment or a £200 fine threatened.

Bar management say the issues were resolved by April but the restaurant failed to request a second inspection meaning that it has officially had the lowest possible score for more than a year.

They went on to say this was due to an 'admin error' and that it believes it is currently operating at a four or five star level.

The swanky wine bar, which also serves cheeses, cured meats and salads, is one of only eight places serving food in the county - of the 5,416 - to hold the zero score.

The original inspection by Oxford City Council (OCC) report read: "There is no hot water at the premises and [name redacted] agreed to stop serving food.

"He did not know what the problem was or when it would be fixed.

It added: "Your stock control system is unclear, many products have three dates on them or more, for example the Confit Duck changes from a use-by date to a best-before date and then having a day dot applied.

"You need a clear written procedure to explain how food is being received and stored and an effective stock control system to show what has been done to the food after you received it."

A follow up visit by council environmental health officers revealed improvements had been made, but the visit did not issue a new score.

Inspectors told the management they were now able to apply for re-score but had failed to do so until earlier this week.

The bar's management released a statement on its Facebook page this week clarifying it was an 'admin error' and that had now asked for a follow up inspection.

It said: "This is simply down to a administrative error on our behalf when we did not apply for a new rating following inspection of our premises last April.

"The default score of zero is due to an FSA non-complaint procedure and failure of our hot water system on the day of the visit, not a hygiene issue, but fundamental to being food compliant.

"We have therefore requested OCC visit us without delay to reassess us and re-score us.

"Again, given our current set-up and operational procedures including the OCC compliant report from last April which we forgot to act upon, we expect to receive a minimum of 4 and likely 5."

In November 2014 the bar - inside the Oxford Castle Quarter - was awarded an Oxford Preservation Trust prize for building and design.