Two schools have been ordered to clean up their act after failing to impress food hygiene inspectors.

Twydall Junior School and Hempstead Junior School are among almost 30 food outlets that have been told to make improvements following spot checks at the venues throughout February and March.

The schools were both given the third lowest rating of two, meaning environmental health officers found “improvement was necessary”.

Three other Medway businesses have some unpalatable news to swallow after being given the lowest ratings possible by food hygiene inspectors.

Akash Restaurant and Monsoon Valley, both in Chatham High Street, and Borstal Fish Bar in Borstal Street, Rochester, were given the score of zero, meaning “urgent improvement” was necessary. Zero rating can be a result of problems with pests, poor staff hygiene, a lack of hot water for cleaning or inadequate areas for food preparation.

A further 15 were given a rating of one and told to make “major improvement”. These included Fontenay Nursing Home, in Watts Avenue, Rochester, cake company Icing on the Cake, in Church Street, Hoo, and the restaurant Simply Italian, in Rochester High Street.

Another eight were given a rating of two, including Cherryacres Residential Home, in Berengrave Lane, Rainham.

A spokesman for Medway Council said inspectors would shut down any premises which put the public at “immediate risk”.

He added: “Of the three given a zero rating one voluntarily agreed to close in order to deal with food safety and hygiene issues identified in their inspection.

“While issues of concern were identified at the other two premises, these related to poor procedures and management and were not considered to pose an imminent risk to health. The immediate concerns were discussed with the businesses, and an improvement plan put in place. This is in line with the council’s enforcement policy. There were regular follow-up visits to ensure that this work was carried out. Any failings on an improvement plan would lead to enforcement action.”

There were 42 eateries which were given the top five star rating, 25 which were given the second highest rating of four stars and a further 12 which were given three stars.

The Messenger is now able to name establishments failing food inspections after Medway became one of the last councils to implement the national Food Hygiene Rating Scheme, which allows people to see the clean grading of their local businesses through a web service.

Previously the council had refused to release the names, claiming many had investigations or legal action pending.

To find out the latest scorings of the Towns’ businesses visit ratings.food.gov.uk