An award-winning restaurant has been handed two out of five stars for hygiene, after inspectors discovered ‘unsafe’ cooking procedures.

Environmental Health’s (EH) latest probe on AA Rosetta restaurant Rocksalt in Folkestone discovered guests were at risk of food poisoning.

Shepway District Council's environmental health officer stripped its five star rating after finding ‘high risk’ chicken liver was undercooked during a probe in August.

The officer's report said: “I noted some cooking procedures that could lead to an unsafe product.

“For example, chicken livers may be cooked medium.

“Chicken liver pate is cooked in the combi-oven. Core temperature is monitored using a probe and the product is considered cooked when it reaches 70C.

“The time temperature combination for thorough cooking is 70C held for two minutes.”

The council ordered the restaurant - which charges £8.25 for a chicken liver pate starter - to train staff on correct procedures.

Concerns were raised with the restaurant’s temperature record keeping charts where ‘high risk’ cooked foods were incorrectly monitored.

Records were kept of low risk foods instead – mashed potato for example.

Environmental Health branded the restaurant ‘Improvement Necessary’ and scored it ‘Poor’ for food hygiene and safety.

A spokesman for Rocksalt was unavailable for comment, however, a message posted on website Scores on the Doors says: “We have requested a revisit and have addressed the single cooking technique deemed incorrect.

“We have urgently retrained all staff to our correct procedure.”

Public Health England issued an official food poisoning alert in 2015 linking chicken livers to campylobacter, the most common form of food poisoning in the UK.

Carried out by local authorities, inspections brand establishments from 0-5, with five being the highest.

Businesses can display their score on a window, although it is not compulsory.