More than 180 eateries in Brent could lose hundreds of customers due to a lack of food hygiene, a study claims today.

Brent & Kilburn Times: Left to right: Southern Fried Chicken in Queen's Park and Superwok in Kingsbury, are both zero-rated (Pic: Google)Left to right: Southern Fried Chicken in Queen's Park and Superwok in Kingsbury, are both zero-rated (Pic: Google) (Image: Archant)

According to online website checkit.net, 61 per cent of the 1,000 people questioned would shun premises with a food hygiene rating of two or less of which there are 182 in the borough.

The research also showed 75pc of people would boycott a restaurant that had ever had a food hygiene incident, even if it was highly recommended.

In addition, the study says diners would rather put up with poor service from rude and unhelpful staff than eat at dirty restaurants.

Dee Roche, marketing director at Checkit.net, said: “Food hygiene is now the number one priority for consumers when eating out, meaning our research should act as a wake up call for those restaurants in London with poor food hygiene ratings.

“As well as the health of their customers they are risking the survival of their business few of them could cope with 61pc of diners boycotting their restaurant.

“These findings show why food safety is priority – customers rate hygiene as the number one reason, above service or rude staff when it comes to choosing whether to return to a restaurant.”

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) publishes the hygiene rating of all food premises in the country on its website.

According to the FSA there are 20 food premises in Brent that have been given a ZERO rating following an inspection of its premises by environmental health officers from Brent Council.

The premises are given their ratings according to how hygienically the food is handled, including how it is prepared, cooked, re-heated and cooled.

The condition of the premise’s structure including the cleanliness, layout, lighting, ventilation and other facilities, and how the business manages and records what it does to make sure food is safe.

A zero-rating is the lowest given while five is the highest.

A spokesman for Brent Council’s regulatory services previously told the Times: “These businesses, which represent one per cent of the total in Brent, are subject to a range of intervention, support and enforcement to drive improvement. In some cases the businesses are forced to close by the council until the worst problems are resolved.

“The council has been successfully reducing the number of zero-rated businesses and expects that the successful interventions will see continued reductions.”