Condemned L’Ancresse kiosk has no hygiene stars
L’ANCRESSE EAST kiosk has been downgraded from one star to zero by environmental health officers, just one month before the tenant’s short lease is due to expire.
The establishment has been given the lowest possible rating due to ‘major improvement’ being necessary in the tenant’s management of food safety.
This assessment, which is one of three that is marked on Environmental Health’s new website, involves how a business manages and records what it does to make sure food is safe.
Kiosk tenant Sandra Brassell, who took on the season-long lease earlier this year, said after the previous one-star rating last month that it had been a challenge working in the old structure, but its bleak future meant it was not viable to invest in the building.
And Vale deputy Neil Inder, a regular customer of the kiosk, has defended Ms Brassell after the zero-star rating.
The States-owned property is going to be removed and replaced with a new structure because of the States’ decision to demolish 130m of anti-tank wall and let a dune form at L’Ancresse East.
Deputy Inder said the ratings given to the kiosk did not reflect that context.
‘It’s true that there are improvements required in terms of paperwork, but it’s a tough old world where one States department passes on a lease for a building with a number of issues, tells the tenant it’s temporary, and another department gives the unit a one-star rating,’ he said.
‘Sandra is the tenant for the operation, she has a number of years’ experience in the trade and has passed all of her relevant hygiene awards.
‘Is the place perfect? Of course it’s not. But to get this up to a five-star standard with holes in the floor and a short lease, only a madman would spend that kind of money.
‘The trigger point for this was the very bad decision to remove L’Ancresse tank wall. That was the death knell for Eddie and Kay as tenants, they handed it back due to the uncertainty.
‘And as predicted, the kiosk will be pulled down at the same time as the wall. This scheme not only puts the bay at risk, we lose the toilets and the livelihood of the business at the same time.’
Ms Brassell started her lease in April and will remain open until September, when the kiosk is expected to close for good.
