A HEADINGTON Indian restaurant's bad habits have been brought to light after hygiene inspectors found evidence of staff smoking inside.

Nawabi in Girdlestone Road was given a one-star rating last month after environmental health officers said it looked as though cigarettes had been smoked near the food storage area and fridges and there was also a risk of pests entering the building.

Management have been given until June to make a number of changes but owner Abul Boshor said all improvements had already been made and was confident of a four or five score in a matter of weeks.

The inspector's report said: "Under no circumstances must cigarettes be smoked within the building - this is a contamination risk and is illegal.

It added: "A smoked cigarette end and cigarette burn marks were found in the central storage area next to and on the small fridge freezer."

The restaurant scored 'Bad' in the food hygiene and safety category, the second lowest, and 'Poor' when it came to structural compliance.

But inspectors did have some confidence in management to turn their hygiene horrors around.

While no evidence of pests was reported by officers, a risk was identified due to the dirt and windows being left open.

It said: "There were windows open in the toilets, which were difficult to get to in order to close, and the WC was cluttered with redundant material.

"The gaps were of sufficient size for rodents to pass through - to reduce the risk of rodents entering the building ensure these windows are kept closed when the business is closed."

A 'general problem' of dirty hand contact surfaces was also identified and as the water took a while to warm up officers suspected the chefs had not washed their hand properly for the first two hours of service.

Raw meats were also stored together with ready to eat foods and colanders were kept directly beneath the raw meat mincer.

Spillages and wet, slippery floors were also highlighted as a danger to staff.

Owner Abul Boshor said: "They gave a list of things to do and we have completed the work, but they can't come back out until twelve weeks have passed so they will be back soon.

"I'm hoping and am confident of getting back up to four or five, we have always been high.

"It was mainly structural issues and the way we store certain foods, as a result of changes to legislation."