A WIRRAL takeaway has dramatically improved its food hygiene after it was initially hit with a zero-star rating last month.

Pizza Magic 2, based on Market Street in Hoylake, was given a four-star rating, the second-best possible score, after a fresh inspection on July 5.

The new rating comes less than two months after it was revealed that the restaurant had scored zero stars.

Information released along with the rating showed that urgent improvement was needed in food handling, cleanliness, and condition of the facilities and building and management of food safety.

The assessment, which local authority inspectors carried out on May 23, also stated concerns in the area of food preparation, cooking, re-heating, cooling, and storage.

Pizza Magic 2 was reinspected and was given a new score of four out of five stars for its food hygiene by the Food Standards Agency.

Mohamed Blorfan, the owner of the restaurant, told the Globe: “After the initial rating I invited the council back for a reinspection and they were happy with everything.

“I thought it was really great that the restaurant went from having no stars to having four.

“We’ve been quite busy and we are hoping to get more business now we have more stars.”

Since the reinspection, Mohamed says the restaurant has been painted and decorated and extra equipment has been fitted.

He said: “The standard has been improved in the way we make our pizzas and I have extra help on weekends.

“It feels great to have been awarded four stars.”

Since the new rating, it means that of Wirral's 350 takeaways with ratings, 144 (41%) have ratings of five and just two have zero ratings.