The owners of two Chinese takeaways in Herne Bay which scored a lowly single star in food hygiene inspections say they have responded quickly to the critical reports.

New Chow’s Garden in the High Street and New China House in Avenue Road were among 10 food outlets in the district revealed last month to be in need of “major improvement”.

But the pair have now been visited again by an environmental health officer and awarded three stars, which is considered “generally satisfactory”.

Food businesses are rated from zero (urgent improvement necessary) to five stars (very good) in the scheme run by the Food Standards Agency.

New Chow’s Garden owner Jian Lin, who has run the business for 15 years, insisted his kitchen was not unhygienic but said the problem was his failure to download and complete administrative paperwork required by the FSA.

He said: “The rating badly affected our business and trade dropped by 50%, including our regular customers.

“We have quickly put right the problem and want to reassure everyone that we are continuing to make improvements towards raising our rating even higher.”

Julie Li, who has run New China House for almost 10 years, says her business has undergone a “deep clean” and other improvements have been made in the recording and storage of food.

She said: “We too lost trade but I want customers to know that we have made improvements. We also have a top chef and our food is lovely.”