Every New Forest food hygiene rating published in August was a 5, from the Montagu Arms to Lidl in Hythe. No premises in the district currently holds a zero.

Twenty-eight New Forest food businesses had a new hygiene rating published in August. Every one of them scored 5, the top mark. Not a 4 among them, and nothing lower.

That has not happened in any other month in the past year. The Food Standards Agency’s register, queried on 4 September, shows the district’s monthly share of top marks usually runs between 67% and 83%.

There is a caveat, and it is the interesting part, so it goes here rather than at the bottom. August’s total is unusually small. Twenty-eight ratings is the lowest month in the past year, against 46 in July and 85 in January. A clean month with a third of the usual number of results is not the same as a month in which nothing went wrong.

Who scored 5

The 28 span most of the district and most of the trade. Among them:

  • The Montagu Arms Hotel, Palace Lane, Beaulieu, rated on 24 August
  • The Railway Hotel, Fordingbridge, and The Ship Inn, High Street, Fordingbridge
  • Wellingtons Freehouse, Osborne Road, New Milton, rated on 25 August
  • Lidl, New Road, Hythe
  • Prezzo and Fridays, both in Ringwood
  • Hoxton Bakehouse, Sophie’s on Quay Street, the Warm Hub on New Street and the Royal Lymington Yacht Club, all in Lymington and all rated on the same day, 5 August
  • The Paddle in the Forest, Brookley Road, Brockenhurst
  • Cafe Aroma and Charcoal Grill, both in Totton
  • Minstead Auctions, on Lyndhurst Road

Four of the 28 are care settings rather than places you would eat out: Colten Care’s Woodpeckers home at Brockenhurst, Sundial Cottage Care Home at Fawley, Applemore Early Years Centre at Dibden Purlieu and Little Monkeys at the Old Cottage in Ringwood. Nurseries and care homes are inspected on the same scale as restaurants, and a 5 there matters more to most families than a 5 at a pub.

Three are mobile caterers, which is the part of the trade that most often slips through the public’s attention: H & G Witt and Son at Fordingbridge, Idelica Paella & Tapas and The King of Burgers.

What the district looks like as a whole

The district has 1,587 establishments on the register. Of those, 95 are exempt, 50 are awaiting inspection and one is awaiting publication, leaving 1,441 with a score.

Food hygiene ratings across New Forest district, September 2026 A bar chart of the 1,441 rated establishments in New Forest district. 1,172 hold a rating of 5, which is 81.3 per cent. 178 hold a 4, or 12.4 per cent. 68 hold a 3, or 4.7 per cent. 4 hold a 2, or 0.3 per cent. 19 hold a 1, or 1.3 per cent. None holds a 0. Four in five New Forest food businesses hold the top rating All 1,441 rated establishments in the district, whenever they were last inspected. Not the August figures. 543210 1,17281.3% 17812.4% 684.7% 40.3% 191.3% 0none in the district A further 95 premises are exempt and 50 are awaiting inspection, out of 1,587 on the register. Source: Food Standards Agency ratings API, local authority 245 (New Forest), queried 4 September 2026. Graphic by New Forest Daily.
The district-wide picture. A rating records one inspection on one day, not a permanent verdict. Graphic by New Forest Daily.

Nowhere in the district currently holds a 0. Nineteen premises hold a 1 and four hold a 2, which together is 1.6% of everywhere with a score.

The month by month picture

This is why the August number needs its caveat. The FSA publishes a rating after the inspection, not on the day of it, and businesses have a right to ask for a re-inspection and to reply. Recent months therefore look better than they will once they fill in.

New Forest food hygiene ratings by the month they were dated, September 2025 to August 2026
MonthRatings datedScored 5Scored below 3
September 20253124 (77%)1
October 20256247 (76%)0
November 20256644 (67%)4
December 20253826 (68%)2
January 20268565 (76%)0
February 20267865 (83%)1
March 20267554 (72%)1
April 20265235 (67%)3
May 20265036 (72%)1
June 20265943 (73%)1
July 20264633 (72%)4
August 20262828 (100%)0

August is the only 100% month in the run, and also the smallest. Both facts are true and they pull in opposite directions. Expect the August column to grow as later inspections are published, and expect the percentage to fall when it does.

The other end of the register

For balance, these are the New Forest premises with the lowest current ratings, dated in the last three months. The register is what it is, and it is public.

  • The Raj, Old Milton Green Parade, New Milton, rated 2 on 21 July
  • Ali’s Kebab, Totton Western Bypass, rated 1 on 13 July
  • Hotel Haveli, Frost Lane, Hythe, rated 1 on 7 July
  • Curry Garden, High Street, Ringwood, rated 1 on 1 July
  • Village Butchers, Brookley Road, Brockenhurst, rated 1 on 30 June

A rating is a snapshot of one visit. A business that has put things right can ask the council for a re-inspection at its own cost, and can publish a right to reply on the FSA website, which appears alongside the score. On 4 September none of the five had a right to reply published against its entry, and none was recorded as awaiting a new rating.

What it means for you

  • Look up any venue yourself at ratings.food.gov.uk. The rating is free, it names the inspection date, and the date matters as much as the number.
  • The sticker in the window is not the whole story. Displaying it is voluntary in England, so a venue with a low score is under no obligation to show it. The website always has the current figure.
  • A 5 is a hygiene rating, not a review. It measures food handling, the condition of the building and the business’s own management of food safety. It says nothing about the cooking.
  • Zero ratings are rare here. The district has none at all today, which is worth remembering the next time a national headline suggests otherwise.

New Forest District Council is the inspecting authority for the whole district, which is why the register and the council area line up exactly. Our planning news page tracks the council’s other public registers.

Frequently asked questions

How many New Forest food hygiene ratings were published in August 2026?

Twenty-eight, and every one of them scored 5. It is the only month in the past year in which the district recorded no rating below the top mark, and also the month with the fewest ratings.

Does any New Forest business have a zero food hygiene rating?

No. On 4 September 2026 no establishment in New Forest district held a rating of 0. Nineteen held a 1 and four held a 2, out of 1,441 premises with a score.

What proportion of New Forest food businesses have a 5?

81.3%, or 1,172 of the 1,441 rated establishments. A further 12.4% hold a 4 and 4.7% hold a 3.

Who inspects food businesses in the New Forest?

New Forest District Council. It is the food authority for the whole district, so the Food Standards Agency register for local authority 245 covers exactly the same area.

Does a business have to display its food hygiene rating?

Not in England. Displaying the sticker is voluntary here, unlike in Wales and Northern Ireland where it is compulsory. Always check ratings.food.gov.uk for the current score and the date it was given.

What can a business do about a low rating?

It can pay for a re-inspection once it has made the improvements, and it can publish a right to reply that appears on the register next to the score. Neither had been used by any of the five lowest-rated New Forest premises when we checked on 4 September 2026.

Sources