A village pub north of Oxford requires ‘major improvement’ after it was visited by health inspectors.

The Royal Sun in Woodstock Road in Begbroke was visited by Cherwell District Council’s Environmental Health team.

Inspectors were left unimpressed with the watering hole and handed it a one-out-five hygiene rating following their visit on Wednesday, March 6.

One key area of concern was the venue’s management of food safety which needed ‘major improvement’.

READ MORE: City kebab shop that had dirty kitchen and chicken health risk slammed again

This refers to whether there is a system of checks in place to ensure that food sold or served is safe to eat.

It also covers if there is evidence that staff know about food safety and if the food safety officer has confidence that standards will be maintained in future.

New pub manager Abhishek Chettri moved into the pub on Tuesday, January 9, and blames the previous owners for the low score.

“There were a lot of things wrong with the building structurally because it was a listed building,” she said.

READ MORE: Oxfordshire's zero-rated pub served 'out-of-date-food'

“There were lots of gaps in the cellar as the previous tenants did not do anything and there were even fridges were dumped in the garden.

“We have taken steps to rectify this. It has been a b****y nightmare but we are getting there.”

Cherwell District Council’s Environmental Health team returned to the venue on Wednesday, April 17 and the pub team are expecting a higher score.

“We have been inspected again and we are expecting an improved report,” added Abhishek.

“The inspector was pleased with the improvements that she saw.”