A CAFE which offers warm refuge for Oxford's rough sleepers has been handed the highest hygiene rating.

The Gatehouse impressed Oxford City Council with its gleaming drop-in cafe, and achieved the best possible food hygiene standard after an on-the-spot inspection.

Katrina Horne, project director at the charity in Woodstock Road, said: "It's great. We had a 'five' rating before and to retain that rating is amazing – it's pretty miraculous.

"We are a volunteer-led organisation.

"We are working with some of the most marginalised people in society, and to know we are putting on a quality service for them is the best [feeling]."

The charity provides a drop-in service for the city's homeless population and those in poor living conditions, serving hundreds of meals and snacks every week from its base in the St Giles' Parish Rooms.

Its website described the cafe as having 'an open door for anyone who is 25 or over'.

Volunteers at The Gatehouse are responsible for dishing out food six days a week, from sandwiches, salads, fruit and cakes to hot soup in the winter months.

Hot food is made off-site and brought in to be reheated, and much of the food offered is supported by a daily donation from Oxford Food Bank.

Miss Horne said she was 'grateful' to her team of volunteers for their tireless efforts, and noted the charity will be celebrating its 30th anniversary next year.

As well as food, clean clothes and a place to rest, The Gatehouse team also offers help for related issues such as poor mental health and unemployment.

Miss Horne said: "Homelessness is a long-term issue. People are in pretty dire straits by the time they get here; 44 per cent are rough sleepers."

But she described their work as an 'upbeat project', adding: "It's a great community to work in."

The council's rating was awarded on August 14, hailing The Gatehouse as 'good' across the board in categories of food hygiene and safety, structural compliance and confidence in management.