One in 20 restaurants in the UK are failing to comply with hygiene standards including branches of Pizza Hut and a Marco Pierre White venue.

An investigation by The Times has revealed that there are more than 15,000 restaurants and food outlets across the United Kingdom with inadequate hygiene standards.

In Britain a total of 566 restaurants scored zero, which could pose a “significant risk to consumers” and needed “urgent improvements”.

An analysis of 250,000 food establishment found that thousands of restaurants have been revealed as scoring two, one or zero stars out of five, according to The Times.

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) states that restaurants with less than three stars do not “comply with broad safety standards” said the FSA.

Businesses in Wales and Northern Ireland must legally display their ratings but this is not the case in England or Scotland.

Restaurants are marked across three categories and receive ratings based on the number of failings found and the risk posed to public health.

Pizza Hut said they had since made the required improvements but had yet to be reinspected. Camden Council said Marco Pierre White’s New York Italian restaurant in Bloomsbury had also made improvements.