Highgate Tesco Express named as one of the dirtiest stores in the country

The Tesco Express store in Highgate’s Swains Lane has been named and shamed as one of the dirtiest in the country.

The shop is one of 14 to be given a zero rating by hygiene inspectors which means it fell dramatically short of hygiene guidellines and that “urgent improvement is necessary,”

The data, rating 11,000 supermarkets throughout the UK, was submitted to the Food Standards Agency by local authority inspectors and shows scores given to the stores the last time they were visited.

As reported in the Ham & High, the Swain’s Lane store was shut on April 27 after a rodent infestation.

At the time, staff thoroughly cleaned the shop and put more pest control measures in place to prevent a future infestation.

A Tesco spokesman said today: “We take the hygiene standards in our stores very seriously and receive the best possible food hygiene ratings in the vast majority of our stores.

“Earlier this year, we voluntarily closed our Swain’s Lane Express store for two days to deal with a pest issue. We cooperated fully with the local authority officers and the store conditions have now vastly improved.”

A spokeswoman from Camden council confirmed that this Tesco branch had last been inspected on April 15 following a complaint from the member of the public.