Chesterfield Football Club defends Proact Stadium's low food hygiene rating

The business, on Sheffield Road, score 1 during an inspection carried out by the Food Standards Agency.

But a spokesman for Chesterfield Football Club said: “The low food hygiene rating given to the Proact Stadium by Chesterfield Borough Council was due to administrative matters as opposed to any concerns over practical issues.”

After carrying out an investigation, director and company secretary Ashley Carson added: “The inspection was carried out in 2015 and certain observations were reported, namely the lack of paperwork and control systems.

“It appears that these actions were never undertaken by the previous manager and our current conference and banqueting manager, Peter Clarke, was not aware of these outstanding issues until he was approached at this year’s inspection.

“We have subsequently been downgraded and now three months have elapsed we can re-apply for a review.

All procedures have been put in place - which included keeping a record of fridge temperatures and other similar procedures - and I am absolutely confident that our status will be restored.

“I would like to stress that the downgrade was nothing to do with the overall hygiene of our kitchens, which is absolutely perfect.”

During the inspection a food safety officer found major improvement was necessary in the management of food safety and that checks needed to be put in place to ensure food sold or served was safe to eat.

The hygienic handling of food, cleanliness and the condition of facilities and the building were rated as ‘good’ during the inspection.