A MUSEUM cafe with ‘one of the best views in Oxford’ is celebrating a top hygiene rating.

Mortons, which also has branches in Broad Street and New Inn Hall Street, opened at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History in 2014.

With its coveted spot overlooking the main exhibition space, the cafe serves up a host of freshly-made tasty treats for visitors to enjoy after exploring the displays in the impressive Victorian building.

Co-owner Craig Muir, who started the business in 1986 with Jim Kinniburgh as a sandwich delivery service, said: “We love it, but it’s an unusual cafe for a couple of reasons. Firstly, we don’t actually have any on site kitchen facilities as the museum needs to make sure there is no chance of the important artefacts being affected by creepy crawlies.

“We also are able to completely dismantle the cafe so it can be moved out of the space.”

He added the view was his favourite part though, saying: “It really is fantastic and I think, whoever was operating the cafe, I would say it is one of the best views in Oxford.”

Each day a selection of baked goods, sandwiches, baguettes and wraps are on offer, as well as soup in the colder months and an ice cream cart at the museum entrance during the summer.

Due to the lack of facilities, everything is produced at the Broad Street shop and delivered by bike to the Park Road museum.

When Oxford City Council food hygiene inspectors visited on June 27 they awarded the cafe the top rating of five stars.

Mr Muir said: “We pride ourselves on cleanliness and the quality and care we put into the food at all our cafes so were very pleased with the rating.”

Mr Muir said the business is also proud of its green credentials and was one of the first cafes in Oxford to sell Fairtrade coffee when they started in 1999. Now all coffee grounds are recycled for people to use as compost.

The museum’s head of operations Wendy Shepherd said: “We’re thrilled to hear that Mortons have been awarded a hygiene rating of five but not surprised as they have run our cafe since the museum reopened in 2014 and are so popular with visitors and staff alike.

“The team at Mortons understand all the issues involved in running a busy museum café and are a pleasure to work with.”

Mr Muir added: “As cheesy as it sounds it is like a big family at the museum and it has been a great partnership for us.”

Visit oum.ox.ac.uk and mortonsatwork.co.uk for more information.