A pub offering a "legendary" Sunday carvery put diners at risk of food poisoning by leaving meat joints to cool in an oven overnight.

Chefs at the Four Horseshoes in Graveney, near Faversham, also gave roast beef, turkey and pork a shelf-life of a week – despite telling food inspectors it was binned after three days.

The dangerous practices were uncovered at the Head Hill Road pub during a damning hygiene visit which saw it given a one-star rating – the second-lowest possible.

But the venue’s owner says inspectors have since revisited the premises and have been “amazed” by the progress made to address concerns raised.

The hygiene report was obtained by KentOnline through a Freedom of Information request to Swale Borough Council.

Inspectors were “concerned” with how joints of meat were cooled at the pub, which has an impressive 4.5-star rating on TripAdvisor.

“You are currently cooking large joints of meat on a Saturday for two to three hours,” they said.

“The oven is being switched off and the joints of meat are left in the oven overnight to be reheated the next day.

“If you have cooked food that you will not serve immediately, it should be chilled down as quickly as possible and then put in the fridge and stored at 8C or below.

“Harmful bacteria can grow in food that is left to chill slowly.”

The inspector says in their report they were told by staff food is kept for a maximum of three days.

But they discovered beef, pork and turkey in the fridge which had a use-by date a week after it was prepared.

“This suggests to me that you are not keeping to a three-day shelf life and are not checking your fridge regularly,” the inspector added.

“This is extremely dangerous as the food may become unfit and could cause serious food poisoning.”

The inspector also discovered a dirty food thermometer probe, which could be a source of cross-contamination, and a soft drinks dispenser had a nozzle with black mould on it.

Walls next to a fridge, behind the sink area, next to a preparation table and opposite the entrance to the kitchen were in an “unsatisfactory condition” as blown paintwork, mould and a crack in the wall was found.

Meanwhile, a drain by the outside bin area was overflowing, which meant there was foul waste on the ground and staff had to walk through it to get to the bins.

“You only have to read our constant five-star reviews in order to know the quality of the food we produce...”

The pub’s Facebook page advertises a “legendary Sunday carvery”, which is now also available on Wednesdays.

The Freedom of Information request revealed an enforcement revisit has been undertaken since the routine food inspection and “significant progress has been made”.

Owner of the Four Horseshoes Steve Jordan says the main reason for the one-star rating was because the “attending officer felt the fabric of this very old building was an issue”.

“We have since addressed the issues raised with a complete refit of the kitchen with fitted cabinets and hygiene board,” he said.

“On a recent revisit by the same officer, she was amazed by how far we had gone to address the matters raised.

“We currently await our proper re-inspection, but believe our food was never an issue.

“You only have to read our constant five-star reviews in order to know the quality of the food we produce.”

A Swale Borough Council spokesman confirmed an enforcement revisit since the initial routine inspection had been carried out and says “significant progress has been made and legal contraventions are in the process of being rectified”.

“These visits are not about changing the food hygiene rating – we are just checking that they are doing things that were picked up in the original inspection,” he said.

“If a business wants the rating changed to reflect improvements, they can pay for a rescoring visit.

“If they don’t choose to do this then the rating will not change until their next routine inspection, provided they are meeting all the necessary regulations when visited.”