The owner of a popular restaurant says being hit with a shocking one-star food hygiene rating feels like a “knife through the heart”.

Jeff Hacker claims Food Standards Agency inspectors were “unfair” in their assessment of his kitchen at The Kennington Carvery in Ashford.

The site – which previously enjoyed a five-star rating – had “dirty, greasy walls” while meat was not reheated to a safe temperature, inspectors said in a report following a visit last month.

But Mr Hacker, who has run the business in Ulley Road for 12 years, told KentOnline his team has since “worked very hard” to get the venue up to scratch.

The 60-year-old explained: “Just to reassure people, in all the years I’ve been here, not one person has got poorly from the food.

“We’ve carried out a great service.

“We serve many, many people each week and hopefully people will keep coming, and we will have our five stars back before we know it – so thank you for your support.

“We’ve worked very hard to bring it back to where it should be, not that there was anything really wrong in my opinion.”

Mr Hacker says he was not expecting poor scores and believes the inspectors were unduly harsh.

Within the report, they told Mr Hacker: “You are carrying out high-risk processes such as cooking, cooling and reheating meat products.”

The carvery’s use of an Alto-Shaam - a “hot cupboard” - to warm up food was brought into question.

“Currently, meat is being heated to 62 degrees celsius, and the legal requirement is 75,” the inspector continued.

Inspectors pointed out a pork joint was also being warmed to just 52 degrees for customers.

But Mr Hacker defended the temperature of the pork, as it was a small joint, meaning it lost heat quicker.

The cooling-down process was also wrong, according to inspectors, whose report states the meat was left to chill for three hours - double the legal and safe limit.

Dirty, greasy walls were found, and the business was ordered to buy new chopping boards, as the current ones were “not adequate for maintaining effective cleaning and disinfection”.

The owner has now scrubbed the walls and hard-to-reach areas and bought new boards, he explained.

“We have changed the chopping boards, but we cut meat on them so they get scratched,” Mr Hacker added.

“If we replaced them each time they got damaged it would just be impossible - you’d have to get a new one every time,” he continued.

The Kennington Carvery runs a help-yourself roast on Wednesdays and Saturdays, but opens for events such as weddings, birthdays and wakes the rest of the week.

This rating has hit the staffing team hard and is the first score below five it has received in more than a decade, according to Mr Hacker.

The Woodchurch resident recalled: “We were absolutely devastated, it was a real kick in the teeth.

“We weren’t expecting it.

“We are a very honest business. We have always welcomed people to look around our kitchen and I take great pride in it.

“It's like a knife through the heart; that's the only way I can describe it.

“It absolutely puts you in turmoil. I’ve had sleepless nights - I was awake this morning at 4.30am just thinking about everything that's going on.

“It's just non-stop.”

The restaurateur adds that he had been “struggling to keep the business alive” in the current financial climate.

“It’s been a real tough time,” he said. “We will get past it, but it has been tough.”

He admits that some of the systems he had in place were “not the best”.

The inspector found that records on-site were not being kept up-to-date, and asked that all staff be taught proper procedures.

Mr Hacker said: “We’ve put everything right; everything they’ve asked for we've done.”

Packaged mince stored next to veg in the fridge was criticised within the report.

Mr Hacker says while this has been rectified, shoppers place meat and greens from the supermarket in the same bag.

Inspectors also noted a gap under the back door to the kitchen which could let in pests.

But Mr Hacker says brushes had always been used to block up the gap.

He believes the Food Standards Agency has hindered a good establishment rather than helping.

Previously, the hospitality expert’s business partner dealt with the food hygiene side of things, but he left the venue in January.

The proprietor said he was not fully aware of all that needed to be done, which led to the disappointing rating.

He added: “The industry is tough enough as it is - these things should be here to help not hinder.

“And at the moment that’s what I think it is - it's hindering a really good business, and a bit more help would be great, rather than an attack.”

Mr Hacker claims other food sellers with bad scores are “in a different league” and much worse than his venue.

In a message to customers, he said: “So please keep coming, we will see you soon.”