MOULDY liver pate and rat droppings has seen a West Oxfordshire pub score the lowest possible food hygiene score.

The Black Horse in Standlake was slammed by West Oxfordshire District Council health officers after an inspection last month and handed a zero food hygiene rating.

The Greene King pub, which is tenanted to Wantage Pubs Company Ltd, agreed to a long list of improvements suggested by the inspectors.

The inspector's report read: "Mouldy food, namely liver pate, was found on the premises.

"It is an offence to sell food that is unfit for human consumption and all food on the premises is deemed to be for sale unless it is clearly marked as being unfit.

"The majority of food had no use by date therefore you are unable to demonstrate that food is safe to eat."

The inspectors also said the premises was in a "very poor hygienic condition" overall.

They went on: "There was a general lack of cleaning throughout the premises, hampered by lack of organisation and accumulations of dirt, food debris and non-food items."

The majority of the food had no "use by" date and inspectors said there was no way of showing food was safe to eat.

Staff were ordered to introduce a monitoring system for stock rotation to make sure any food past its use by date was disposed of immediately.

The pub scored a "bad" rating in both the food hygiene and safety and structural compliance categories – the second lowest behind "very bad".

Of the confidence in management category, which measures how likely staff are to improve standards, the pub was scored "No confidence".

The threat of pests entering the pub and evidence of rats in the outside area was also mentioned in the report.

It read: "Evidence of pests – rat droppings and rat runs – were found in the outside shed and garden area.

"Appropriate treatment methods must be used to eliminate these pests."

The report also identified potential access points for pests such as holes in the kitchen and waste pipe gulleys in the cellar.

Cleaning of floors, walls, cookers, fridges and work surfaces was ordered to prevent pests from getting in.

The manager was advised to take on food safety training and several repairs were ordered to fridges, door frames and floors.

The pub and Greene King both declined to provide a comment.