Oxford corner shop with zero hygiene rating shut down

Red Sky, which used to be called Euro Foods, was a convenience store selling Polish cuisine from a premises at 115 London Road in Headington.

The convenience store has now closed down, and signage has gone up in its place for Master Butchers.

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The Halal butchers shop previously operated from Holyoake Hall in the same road, but closed in April after trading for just 11 months.

The Holyoake Hall premises has been put up for sale to a new business leasehold, while it appears Master Butchers plans to open in the former Red Sky shop.

Master Butchers at its old shop premises in Holyoake Hall, London Road (Image: Google)

Red Sky was visited by Oxford City Council’s Environmental Health team on Monday, July 14 last year, and inspectors were not impressed by what they found.

It received the shockingly low food hygiene rating of zero, the only business in the Headington neighbourhood to have such a rating.

One key problem on the day was the management of food safety, which was deemed to require “urgent improvement”.

Another big issue was the hygienic handling of food, which includes the preparation, cooking, reheating, cooling and storage of food sold onsite.

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Inspectors suggested that “major improvement” was needed in this regard, dragging the overall score down to a zero.

One category noted as being “generally satisfactory”, however, was the cleanliness and condition of both the facilities and building.

The rating came soon after the shop was reportedly taken over by new management last summer, as an application had been submitted to transfer the premises licence.