Every food hygiene rating from a September inspection in Lewes district is a 5, six of them school kitchens. Four places still hold a 1 from this spring and summer.
Every food hygiene rating published so far for a September inspection in Lewes district is a 5. There are 19 of them, and six are school kitchens in Peacehaven, Seaford and Newhaven.
All the figures here come from the Food Standards Agency’s register, which we read in full for Lewes District Council on 7 October 2026.
The September 5s
A 5 means hygiene standards are “very good”. These are the September ratings with a published address, in date order:
| Business | Where | Inspected |
|---|---|---|
| Relish | Mobile caterer, Sussex Innovation Centre, University of Sussex, Falmer | 10 September |
| Compass at Sussex Police HQ | Malling House, Church Lane, South Malling, Lewes | 11 September |
| Malling Community Cafe | Malling Community Centre, Spences Lane, Lewes | 15 September |
| Florence House | Southdown Road, Seaford | 17 September |
| Meridian Primary and Nursery School | Roderick Avenue North, Peacehaven | 18 September |
| Breaky Bottom | Vineyard, Whiteway Lane, Northease | 22 September |
| Impact Food Group at Peacehaven Community School | Greenwich Way, Peacehaven | 22 September |
| Seaford Primary School | Wilkinson Way, Seaford | 22 September |
| Firle Tea Rooms | Firle Place, Firle | 23 September |
| Frank Richards and Sons | 25 Western Road, Lewes | 23 September |
| Denton Primary and Nursery School | Acacia Road, Newhaven | 24 September |
| Cradle Hill Primary School | Lexden Road, Seaford | 25 September |
| Impact Food Group at Seaford Head School, upper site | Arundel Road, Seaford | 29 September |
The other six are businesses the register lists by postcode district only, usually because they are run from a home. They include a care home in Seaford and home caterers and food producers in Newhaven, Peacehaven, Lewes and Seaford. All six were rated 5.
Firle is about four miles south-east of Lewes, and Breaky Bottom at Northease about three miles south.
The list may still grow. A business has 21 days to appeal a rating, so the register can lag an inspection by several weeks. Any lower September scores would appear then.
A strong summer, with few below 4
Inspections from July and August have now cleared the appeal window. The register shows:
| Month inspected | Ratings | Rated 5 | Rated 4 | Rated 3 | Rated 1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 2026 | 46 | 39 | 4 | 1 | 2 |
| August 2026 | 49 | 42 | 6 | 1 | 0 |
| September 2026 | 19 | 19 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
The one August rating below 4 was Riverside Cafe Lewes, in the Riverside building on the High Street. It was rated 3 on 25 August, which means “generally satisfactory”. The register marks all three parts of the inspection as generally satisfactory: food handling, the building, and the management of food safety.
Pells Pool and The Gardeners Arms on Cliffe High Street were both rated 5 on 12 August.
The four places rated 1 since May
A 1 means “major improvement is necessary”. Four premises in the district have been given one since May. In each case the register marks the management of food safety as needing major improvement.
- Shell and Fish Ltd, Unit 7, Oak Estate, New Road, Newhaven, a food producer, was rated 1 on 22 July. Food handling and the building were both marked as needing improvement.
- Londis Lexden Road, 26 Lexden Road, Seaford, was rated 1 on 22 July. Food handling was marked as needing improvement. The building was marked very good.
- Bondfood Market Londis, Four Seasons, Alfriston Road, Seaford, was rated 1 on 19 May. Food handling and the building were both marked as needing improvement.
- Fort Road Cafe (Bite 2 Eat), Fort Road, Newhaven, was rated 1 on 7 May. Food handling was generally satisfactory and the building good.
None of the four has added a reply to the register, and none is shown as awaiting a new rating. A rating stands until the council inspects again. A business can appeal, ask for a re-inspection once it has made improvements, or publish its own response on the register.
Across the whole district, 12 premises hold a 1 or a 2 today. Eleven of them hold a 1. No premises in the district holds a 0, the lowest rating.
How Lewes district compares
We counted every premises with a rating of 0 to 5 in each council area. Those awaiting inspection and those exempt from the scheme are left out. In Lewes district that leaves out 50 premises awaiting inspection and 47 exempt ones.
| Council area | Premises rated | Rated 5 | Share rated 5 | Rated 0, 1 or 2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hastings | 853 | 781 | 91.6% | 13 |
| Rother | 1,020 | 895 | 87.7% | 6 |
| Lewes district | 857 | 735 | 85.8% | 12 |
| Eastbourne | 949 | 809 | 85.2% | 18 |
| Brighton and Hove | 2,791 | 2,310 | 82.8% | 37 |
| Wealden | 1,349 | 1,065 | 78.9% | 5 |
Lewes district sits in the middle of its neighbours on the share of 5s. It has more 1s than Rother (2) or Wealden (3), though Wealden has far more 3s and 4s.
What it means for you
Food businesses in the district are inspected by the environmental health team at Lewes District Council, and every rating ends up on the FSA register. Search a takeaway, cafe or shop by name before you buy. Premises in England do not have to display their sticker, so the register is the only reliable place to check.
Check the inspection date beside a rating. It says how a kitchen was on the day, not how it is now.
If you think a food business has a hygiene problem, the FSA’s report a food problem service sends it to the council.
We will publish October’s ratings in the first week of November.
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