AN INDIAN restaurant in Headington is back at the top of the hygiene charts after 'bad luck' saw them slip up last year.

Nawabi in Girdlestone Road was given a one-star rating last year when health inspectors said it looked as though cigarettes had been smoked near the food storage area and fridges and there was also a risk of pests entering the building.

Oxford City Council environmental health officers revisited the restaurant a few weeks later to dish out five stars and last month gave another five-star rating at a random inspection.

Inspectors praised staff and management for their food hygiene and safety - rating the restaurant 'good' in all three areas - and were satisfied that all previous issues had been resolved and had not resurfaced.

Owner Abul Boshor said the inspection last year was 'bad luck' and that his staff were pleased to have returned to the highest standards.

Mr Boshor said: "We had always been five stars - but on this one occasion one of the staff was smoking outside.

"It was bad luck, we have always had the very top rating for many years - since the beginning of Scores on the Doors itself.

"We had a revisit around eight weeks after and the same officer was amazed how quickly we had improved, although there wasn't anything major."

He added: "They did another random inspection a few weeks ago and once again we had the top rating."

Following the inspection in February 2017 he restaurant scored 'Bad' in the food hygiene and safety category, the second lowest, and 'Poor' when it came to structural compliance.

But inspectors did have some confidence in management to turn their hygiene horrors around.

The management and staff did exactly that and were soon back to five stars in June last year and had caused to celebrate again in January when inspectors maintained their high rating.