A city eatery has been given a one-star food hygiene rating due to issues including raw meat not being defrosted properly and staff not washing their hands regularly.

Rasa's Cafe, in West Earlham Centre, says it is already making the necessary changes and staff have undergone new training since the Food Standards Agency (FSA) report.

The cafe - which offers Lithuanian and other eastern European cuisine - has already applied for reinspection, management told the Evening News.

In the FSA report, inspectors noted that while food hygiene standards are "generally satisfactory and maintained" there had been "lapses" in food handling processes and procedures.

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They said raw meat was not being looked after correctly and there was a high risk of cross-contamination.

The report also noted staff were not seen washing their hands when the inspectors visited and there was no hot water in the hand wash basin.

Cooked rice was said to be being left in the temperature "danger zone" for long periods of time.

Facilities were said to be of a "satisfactory" level of cleanliness but some items did require more regular cleaning.

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The report noted that at the time of the visit staff hygiene and allergen training was not adequate.

It also said allergens in food had not been labelled or identified.

The inspector recommended that the cafe don't use wooden utensils which are tougher to clean and provide separate equipment and utensils designated for use with either raw or ready-to-eat foods.

They said hand washing should become more frequent and be done with a high-standard disinfectant.

The cafe's staff was also told it needed to introduce a system to identify when open or prepared foods need to be used by or discarded and make a chart listing all allergens.

They also urged staff to take relevant food safety courses every three years.