A restaurant boss hit with a one-star food hygiene rating has vowed to “get to the bottom of what has happened,” as he found his business suspended from online ordering sites.

Staff at Tilucks II in Sandgate High Street, near Folkestone, discovered their business frozen out of sites such as JustEat and Deliveroo this weekend.

As the rating was made public this weekend, people have taken to social media to discuss it.

And Darren Weller, the Thai restaurant's owner spoke to KentOnline and told how communication lines with the delivery giants were abruptly shut-down.

“They’ve turned all of their machines off so we’ve lost a lot of trade, we use Deliveroo and JustEat and sites like that but they’ve taken us off now,” he said.

It comes after inspectors this month handed the restaurant a low food hygiene score of one after visiting last year. Five is the highest and the lowest rating is zero. One indicates major improvement is needed.

But staff were “entirely unaware” their previous five star rating had dropped this weekend, with the council “not telling us” Mr Weller explained.

Inspectors found “major improvements necessary” under management of food safety. This includes the systems put in place to ensure food is safe to eat and that staff know about food safety.

The Food Standards Agency's website also reports improvements are necessary for cleanliness and the condition of the building, plus hygienic food handling.

Areas covered in these two categories include ventilation, handwashing, the layout of the building, plus how food is prepared, stored and reheated.

Mr Weller explained inspectors were at the restaurant during a chef changeover where “Some things may have been out of place.”

“We’ve been trading for more than 10 years and we’ve never had a bad report and last night one of our customers told us about it.

“We’ve had five stars rating for the last 10 years, I can’t understand why it’s only one star, the kitchen is really clean.

“[When inspectors visited] some of the stuff in the kitchen may have been in different places than usual.

“But I really want to get to the bottom of what has happened here,” he added.

Mr Weller added a breakdown in communication with Folkestone and Hythe District Council left his team in the dark, with nobody available to speak to over the weekend.

However he’s keen to speak to the authority and “iron out any wrinkles” if a mistake has not been made, he explained.

“We’ll get them back out and we’ll be back at five stars in two months,” he said.

The takeaway, which highlights its massaman curry as being particularly of note on its website, has received a mixed bag of reviews.

The only Thai restaurant in Sandgate has been awarded 3.5 stars, with many polarised opinions.

One visitor wrote: “It was an unplanned visit for a family of six consisting of three generations.

“We had a mix of Thai food and it was all delicious. My children loved the food and my uncle couldn’t even eat all of his, the staff were amazing.”

Another added: “Tried for the first time, after walking past for a year irritated by the "dogs welcome, people tolerated" and the bizarre plants outside.

“The weirdness continued inside, with staff contemptuous we had even walked in. The food was poor. The place seems tatty and unloved.”