A director of a Suffolk seaside theatre has hit out at a council he feels has broken "many promises" to improve facilities at its café kitchen.
The Spa Pavilion theatre in Felixstowe received a one star rating by food hygiene inspectors over a host of kitchen concerns, including dirty storage cupboards and floors.
It followed an inspection of the Undercliff Road West premises by East Suffolk Council's environmental health team in August.
READ MORE: Spa Pavilion cafe in Felixstowe rated one star by inspectors
However, the pavilion's director Ray Anderson said the council had broken "many promises" with the theatre over the years, including a pledge to fund a replacement floor, made when East Suffolk Council was known as Suffolk Coastal District Council.
He said past flooding from council-owned land had badly damaged the building and kitchen over several years, while mice had been entering the building from overgrown scrub behind it that the council had failed to maintain.
But he added all issues with the kitchen had been dealt with "promptly and efficiently" and there has never been any risk to public health.
He said: "We have been very disappointed at the attitude of the council, who have told us that the environmental health inspection function is separate from the rest of the council and must run its course separately to any of their legal and contractual obligations that they may have failed upon.
"We have invested heavily over the summer to refurbish the outside of our building, and this work will now move indoors for the winter, but to the extent that we receive any negative comment or damage from the rating, which we cannot improve until the kitchen floor is replaced, we are now holding the council responsible."
READ MORE: Spa Pavilion undergoes renovation to protect venue in future
He said negotiations were ongoing with the council to persuade it to honour its "clear obligations" and help restore the cafe's five star rating, which it "proudly held" previously.
Councillor Jan Candy, East Suffolk Council's cabinet member for community health, said: “We do not ordinarily comment on the food hygiene ratings of individual businesses.
"However, given the comments made by the Spa Pavilion, we would like to clarify that our environmental health service found a wide range of issues at this premises which need to be addressed.
"We have a duty to the public to uphold high standards of hygiene and acknowledge the improvements which have already been made since the inspection took place.
"As we have made clear to the management of the Spa Pavilion, we will continue to work with them as a valued local venue to improve the situation.”
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