Michelin-starred chefs have criticised "laborious" hygiene inspections of their kitchens which they claim are causing major problems for restaurateurs.

 

Andrew Fairlie, whose two-starred restaurant at Gleneagles failed an inspection in June, joined Tom Kitchin and Tony Borthwick in voicing concern about the regime overseen by the Food Standards Agency.

Mr Fairlie said the importance given to administration was "bizarre" while one of the problems raised in his kitchen was a member of staff putting soap on their hands before water when washing their hands.

"It borders on the surreal," he said. "We've now had to employ a consultant to meet the laborious requirements set out by the inspectorate."

Mr Kitchin added: "We expect cleanliness, we expect our chefs to take responsibility. Yes, of course we're here to to live by guidelines but I think there's an attitude of the 'sheriff' to some of the inspectors. Some of them are like parking inspectors trying to make your life miserable."

Mr Borthwick, who runs The Plumed Horse in Leith, added: "We can be running a brilliant restaurant but if I forget to record the fridge temperatures for a week I'm told I'm a bad boy.

"I check my fridge a hundred times a day but I don't always have time to write it down. In the eyes of an inspector that could make me a bad chef."

The FSA said the conduct of inspections, which are carried out by local authority staff, was governed by a code of practice on food law enforcement and the system was regularly audited.