PEOPLE wanting to eat out may soon able to tell from the scores on the doors of the restaurant they are visiting whether their night out will be up to scratch.

PEOPLE wanting to eat out may soon able to tell from the scores on the doors of the restaurant they are visiting whether their night out will be up to scratch.

A scheme is set to be launched in the Suffolk Coastal area which will require all cafes, pubs, restaurants, hotels and takeaways serving food to have a sticker on their doors or windows showing just how good they are.

The sticker will show the score the premises received last time they were inspected by environmental health officers - grades they received for food hygiene and safety, cleaning, and management ability - and give a star rating.

Similar schemes are run in New York, LA, Amsterdam and Madrid.

Suffolk Coastal cabinet member Sherrie Green said the authority's food safety team carries out more than 500 inspections a year.

The aim of the Scores on the Doors scheme - once it scheme is approved by cabinet - is that from next spring for the first time the results of inspections would be available for all to see, both at the premises visited and on the council's website.

“Our food safety team is doing an excellent job in driving up standards and I think it is fair that the results of its inspections should be shared with the public so they can know how their local food premises is rated,” said Mrs Green.

“Similar schemes have been tried in large cities abroad and have been trialled in a few places in this country.

“It will benefit good food businesses by promoting their achievement and should drive up standards in those performing less well.

“Our task group supported the idea of the results of our inspections being on our website, and each premise being given a window sticker that would show how they are rated by this council.”

It is proposed that the food premises will be allowed to provide a comment on the website about their rating.

The scheme was drawn up after an increase in inquiries about food hygiene at businesses following the introduction of the Freedom of Information Act with the public wanting more information in order to choose where to eat.

Do you think the Scores on the Doors scheme is a good idea? Write to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN, or e-mail EveningStarLetters@eveningstar.co.uk