A Sidmouth carvery which was given a low hygiene rating has seen its poor score reversed in a matter of days.

The Bowd Inn was given a score of 'one' for food hygiene by East Devon District Council (EDDC) after an environmental health officer conducted a random check on April 9.

Following the result, the pub, just off the A3052, vowed to change the score and said the score would not be in place for long.

A week later it has had a further inspection and has now been awarded a score of four.

Restaurants, pubs and hotels - as well as cafés, takeaways and other places that sell or serve food - are rated from zero, where it is deemed urgent improvement is necessary, to five, very good, on their hygiene standards.

Carole Yates, on behalf of the company, said: "Firstly, we would like to thank you all for your fantastic support over the last week and a half in what has been a difficult period for us.

"We are now very pleased to announce that we have had our re-inspection and have been awarded a 4 and are aiming for a 5 within the next six months.

"It has made us realise further just how brilliant our customers are and we can't thank you enough.

"We look forward to seeing you all very soon."

A statement on Facebook, released by The Bowd Inn after the first inspection said: "Over the last few days we have seen that some of you have been made aware of our food hygiene rating.

"While we don't dream of trying to justify or defend this score, we would like to just say a few things on the matter.

"Please be assured that this rating will not stay for long.

"A day before the inspector turned up, which is always at random, we had incurred a heavy leak through a hole in the roof of our kitchen which was caused by our main boiler. As a result of this, our score does reflect this structural issue.

"The boiler has now been replaced and the hole in the roof has been fixed.

"You are also more than welcome to come into the kitchen itself anytime you are passing by to hopefully put any doubts you may have about dining with us still to rest.

"On the matter of food hygiene itself, we have had just one complaint of apparent food poisoning in the last five years which actually turned out to be a case of the Norovirus.

"We love Sidmouth and the fantastic customer base we have built up over the last five years and are doing everything we can to make sure that this doesn't effect that."