A ISLE of Wight pub has transformed its food hygiene rating from one star to five in less than two months.

The White Lion in Niton was slapped with the low rating by an environmental health officer during a surprise inspection on September 3.

The pub was found to have out-of-date food and poor cleanliness.

But the pub's new managers, Anita Lewis and Ray Shelton, who took over in August, were quick to address the issues.

(Image: Google Maps) Following a re-inspection on October 31, the pub was awarded a five-star food hygiene rating by the Food Standards Agency (FSA).

Anita, who once worked at the pub, said: "We were really, really disappointed with the first inspection and rating, but we promised to put things right, as quickly as we've done.

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"We've done a lot of hard work behind the scenes, to get things up to where they should've been in the first place."

The re-inspection found that the hygienic handling of food, including preparation, cooking, re-heating, cooling and storage, was of a good standard.

The cleanliness and condition of facilities and the building were also deemed as good.

The inspection also assessed the pub's layout, ventilation, hand washing facilities and pest control, all of which were found to support good food hygiene practice.

The FSA also rated the White Lion's management of food safety as equally good, with the inspector satisfied with the pub's system of checks, to ensure food sold or served is safe to eat.

There was also evidence staff are now much more knowledgeable about food safety, with the food safety inspector confident standards will be maintained in the future.

Anita said the White Lion is optimistic about the future and believes the pub will "take off" after employing new head chef, Michael Jackson — overseen by executive chef, Tom Axford, of the pub's owners, Wight Pubs, which also owns the Chequers Inn, Rookley, and The Birdham, Bembridge.

Anita added: "Our head chef, 'MJ', has produced a really exciting a la carte menu, together with one for the Christmas period.

"We're really pleased we've got it all sorted now.

"The pub business was all really new to us at that time, so the inspection in September caught us on the hop.

"We were at a disadvantage because we had inherited some bad practices."