Couples marking Valentine’s Day with a takeaway or eating out at a restaurant have been advised to check the food hygiene of their selected restaurant.

Haringery Borough Council says people should check restaurants on its Food Hygiene Rating Scheme before they make a booking for their romantic date.

The scheme has 345 businesses signed up for it and 83.4 per cent of them have the rating of 3 which means good.

The lowest rating is 0, which means urgent improvement necessary and 5 is the best which means very good.

Councillor John Bevan, the council’s cabinet member for environment, said: “Valentine’s Day is a busy time for local restaurants, cafes and pubs, so it’s reassuring to see food hygiene is being taken really seriously and the vast majority of food establishments in Haringey have been rated as satisfactory or better.

“Thanks to greater awareness, over the past year we’ve seen the number of 0 ratings in Haringey reduce from 0.9 per cent to 0.3 per cent – as well as more than 200 new food businesses sign up to our Food Hygiene Rating Scheme.”