An award-winning curry house once named the best in Kent has been handed a zero-star food hygiene rating following a damning inspection.

Officials uncovered a catalogue of serious issues at Badsha Indian Cuisine in Tenterden, including dirty fridges, rotten vegetables, insects in store rooms and half-smoked cigarettes in food-handling areas.

But the owner of the eatery, Abdul Kalam Azad Suton, insists the restaurant is on its way to regaining a five-star score.

The new rating – the lowest possible – marks a dramatic fall from grace for Badsha, which in 2021 was named the best restaurant in Kent at the Euro Asia Curry Awards.

Mr Suton, who has worked in the industry for 38 years, even received a lifetime achievement accolade – the first time such an honour had been dished out.

But inspectors from the Food Standards Agency (FSA) were not impressed when they visited his West Cross restaurant last month, highlighting 24 areas of concern.

Their comprehensive report reveals the kitchen and dry store rooms were “generally dirty”, with “food debris, insects such as ants, grease, cobwebs, cigarette ends, and dust” discovered.

Evidence was found of smoking indoors as cigarettes were clearly visible in various areas of the food-handling areas, while the source of unlabelled bags of minced meat and parts of lamb were unable to be identified by staff.

“Rotting carrots” were found uncovered in a dry store room, with washing detergent kept in an unmarked Patak’s Lime Pickle food container.

Two open five-litre tubs of mayonnaise were also highlighted as being an issue as they were stored at room temperature, against manufacturing instructions clearly stating the product must be refrigerated.

“The extractor system/filters have grease dripping from them where they have not been cleaned properly,” said the report.

Damaged drain covers were found covered in dust, while light switches and shelves were described as “greasy” by FSA representatives.

Sinks, fridges, freezers and storage containers were also found to be dirty.

Additionally, inspectors discovered “there were no means of drying hands in a hygienic method” in the staff toilets - with there simply being “a used tea towel” placed on the back of the toilet.

Frozen foods such as prawns were found defrosting in a tub in a dry store room, so were not thawing under temperature-controlled conditions.

At the time of the inspection, raw chicken had been washed and left in a bucket within close proximity of salad leaves - increasing the risk of cross-contamination.

Staff at Badsha were told a thorough cleaning of the equipment and premises was required, and updated protocols needed to be put in place to prevent issues from cropping up.

"The system you have in place ‘Safer Food Better Business’ was last reviewed in 2007,” revealed the report.

“You are not up to date with current legal requirements as a food business operator.

“You must follow the manufacturer storing instructions. Food must not be stored on the floor, to prevent it from becoming contaminated.

“Raw meat should not be washed as bacteria such as campylobacter can splash onto hands, clothes, utensils and worktops.

“You must be able to effectively clean and sanitise regularly to avoid any risk of contamination.

“You must put into place, implement and maintain a permanent procedure or procedures.

“You must be able to produce evidence of where you are acquiring your products from to the competent authorities when asked.”

When approached by KentOnline, Mr Suton offered a defiant defence of his business.

“[We’ve had] five stars every time through the years,” he said.

“Everything is done, they’ve revisited and everything is completed - we’re expecting a five-star hygiene rating again soon.”

Mr Suton got back in touch with KentOnline on Wednesday. He said that the during the week when the inspector visited, the restaurant had been shut during the day while builders carried out refurbishments.

But the curry house did reopen in the evenings that week for dinner service.

“When the inspector came for the visit it was lunchtime,” Mr Suton said.

“That week, we hadn’t been open for lunchtimes.

“So we weren’t there when the inspector came because the restaurant was closed.

“One employee was there and said we were closed but the hygiene inspector didn’t listen.

“I’m shocked and I’m not happy.”

An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that inspectors had discovered rotting meat at the restaurant. We apologise for this error, and are happy to clarify that concerns over the meat related to staff being unable to confirm the source of unlabelled products, and inspectors being unable to identify some cuts.