A Hanwell school previously given the lowest possible food hygiene rating after rodents were spotted in the kitchen was criticised on The One Show on Thursday (March 24).

Drayton Manor High School was identified by the BBC show after it was given a 0 food hygiene rating last year.

The Food Standards Agency website still has its rating as 0, but Ealing Council said it was re-inspected on February 20 and received a rating of 5.

It followed getwestlondon's previous investigation which found it was given the 0 rating, on November 25 last year, following a "historic pest problem".

Information obtained through a Freedom of Information Request showed mouse faeces had been found on wrapped packet of smoked salmon.

Video Loading

The school said remedial works were carried out immediately after, and Ealing Council said it was satisfied it was safe three days later.

On Thursday evening the One Show ran a report into the school, which caters for Years 7 to 11, as well as sixth form.

Commenting on the Drayton Bridge Road school's previous hygiene report, a former environmental health inspector, Mike Williams, said: "It's very bad. It's as low as you can get from an environmental health point of view.

"There's mice in the kitchen itself, but then it actually goes on to say, yes we've actually got mouse droppings on the food itself.

Drayton Manor High in Hanwell
Drayton Manor High School in Hanwell

"It's an utter failing. From the point of view of children, they are a captive audience in school eating five days a week.

"It's a real disaster, not what any parent would want to see."

Parents on the show were also asked about the report.

One said: "I think this is very dangerous. Very, very dangerous."

A hygiene report reveals mouse poo was found in the kitchen

Another added: "There's been so much talk about feeding them properly, nutritionally, and that sort of thing, you'd like to think it's in a clean kitchen and done up to a certain standard."

As previously highlighted by getwestlondon, the show went on to highlight how the 0-rated inspection followed a 5-rated inspection a day earlier.

The council was forced to re-inspect, after giving it a rating of 5, following a complaint that mice had been spotted.

Helen Statham, from the council food safety team which eventually gave the school the 0 rating, said on the show: "It was carried out by a third party contractor that we used.

"I can only assume the inspection was not done to the best of the ability of that inspector or the standard of that inspector wasn't good enough.

"And we took quick action to remove that third party contractor from our programme."

Asked if parents can trust future inspections, she said: "Absolutely, all our inspectors are fully qualified and I'm absolutely confident any inspection would be of a high standard."

The school, which opened in 1930, is currently rated as "outstanding" by Ofsted.

Keep up to date with the latest news in west London via the free getwestlondon app.

You can even set it to receive push notifications for all the breaking news in your area.

Available to download from the App Store or Google Play for Android now!