A COURT has rubber-stamped the closure of a kebab restaurant which was shut down after it received a zero-star food hygiene rating.

It comes after New Forest District Council issued an emergency closure notice to the Kebab and Chicken House in Queen Street, Lymington, following the eatery's failure to improve its standards.

Environmental Health officers visited the business on June 30 and served a Hygiene Emergency Prohiition Notice on the owner.

Southampton Magistrates' Court has now issued a hygiene emergency prohibition order for the restaurant, which means it will remain closed until New Forest District Council is confident that its hygiene is an acceptable leve.

A New Forest District Council statement said: "Failure to provide hot running water for cleaning and hand washing, poor standards of cleaning, poor hygiene practices and poor maintenance of equipment all led to the decision that there was an imminent risk to health and the business must close.

"The owner has been provided with information on what work must be carried out to remove the risk and cannot open until officers have revisited to ensure the premises meets the required food safety standard.

"The HEPN has been posted to the front door of the business so it can be clearly seen from the outside."

The zero-star rating was carried out on May 19 this year and found that major improvements were needed regarding food handling and food safety, while improvements were also needed to the cleanliness and condition of the building.

Joanne McClay, service manager for environmental health, said: "We do not issue these closure notices lightly, and this is the first one for a number of years. We will always try to work with a business so that matters are resolved, but when the public's safety is at stake we will not hesitate to take action."