A ROMSEY coffee shop has been slammed in a damning report after health inspectors discovered "filthy" cleaning equipment.

A report from the Food Standards Agency, who inspected Josie's in the Market Place, said a "major improvement" was necessary and gave it a food hygiene rating of 1 out of 5.

Inspectors, who worked with Test Valley Borough Council, discovered the coffee shop's spray bottles containing cleaning products were "filthy and hooked on the edge of waste bins".

They also found ready-to-eat smoked salmon was stored directly "on top of raw meat" in a refrigerator.

The officer who carried out the inspection wrote in the report: "All of the above are extremely bad practices and can lead to cross contamination.

"Josie's has only been open a few months, yet debris and scum was seen to have built up along the inner seal on the lower part of the dishwasher opening; this blacked scum was also seen on the blue trays.

"Recent hygiene swabs on such machines have identified that this build up can harbour harmful bacteria."

Health inspectors highlighted the coffee shop was storing out of date food when they visited on December 13.

They found a carton of liquid egg that should have been used by December 6 and yoghurt dated for December 11.

The officer wrote: "It is an offence to have for sale or service out of date food.

"You must check your stock daily and dispose of any out of date food."

Josie's was heavily criticised for poorly storing tongs used for serving cakes.

The report said: "Service tongs should, at least, be on plates or in tubs and should be changed regularly so that food does not build up on them.

"Crumbs should be cleaned away immediately as sweet foods and sugars can attract flying pests."

Following the inspection, the Environmental Health officers stressed Josie's must ensure their spray bottles containing cleaning products are kept clean and sanitised in the "same way that any other food and hand contact surface should be".

Josie's has been contacted for comment.