Lincoln has best food hygiene in East Midlands and second best in UK according to study by High Speed Training

A new report on food hygiene ratings has crowned a Lincolnshire location as the best in the region and one of the best in the UK.

Towns and cities have had their scores compared with each other by High Speed Training, and Lincoln has taken the top spot in the East Midlands with an average of 4.89, beating Mansfield, Nottingham, Chesterfield, Leicester, Derby and Northampton.

The data, which came from the Food Standards Agency (FSA), was analysed for over 215,000 food businesses across England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales, and Lincoln placed joint-second overall alongside Ipswich and Bangor.

Of the 15,758 rated premises in the East Midlands, Lincoln had the second highest number of food joints at 1144, falling 340 behind Derby.

The study also showed that 18% of takeaways in the region have a rating of 3 or lower with almost 90% of establishments scoring 4 or 5.

However, the number of rated premises in the region has dropped by 487 from 16,245 in 2023.

Dr Richard Anderson, head of learning and development at High Speed Training said: “Food safety and robust hygiene practices should be of paramount importance to food businesses.

“Recently, we have seen many high-profile cases of food poisoning and illnesses caused by food-borne bacteria.

“This is why food hygiene ratings are so important - they are a direct reflection of how safely and hygienically that establishment operates and are of critical importance to consumers.

The organisation has urged people to check the establishments they wish to dine at so they can make an informed informed call about dining there.