A LOVED Andover cafe today announced its owners will not be renewing its lease, days after it received a two-star hygiene rating.

The owner of Chalkies Coffee Bar says the issues raised by Test Valley Borough Council (TVBC) inspectors in its hygiene report have already been addressed and rectified.

Since then, a post on the café’s Facebook account said that the owner will no longer be continuing with the lease, although it has since been removed.

The post read: “Unfortunately Chalkies’ owner no longer wants to continue with the lease in Andover, so the remaining lease is going on with Belvoir anyone interested would you please contact them direct.”

Andover Advertiser: Chalkies' Facebook post, which has since been deletedChalkies' Facebook post, which has since been deleted

Both Chalkies and Belvoir have been contacted for a comment.

TVBC will also be releasing the full hygiene report in due course.

The report was published on Saturday, August 17, after the inspection was carried on July 12.

On the Food Standards Agency website, the café’s “cleanliness and condition of facilities and building” and “management of food safety” is cited as “generally satisfactory”.

However, its “hygienic food handling” is rated as “improvement necessary”.

Speaking to the Advertiser on Tuesday, the owner of the café said that two of the key issues cited in the report have since been resolved.

He says the cafe was penalised for an old extraction fan, a replacement for which was on order but had not yet arrived at the time of the inspection.

The owner adds that the report cited the state of an outside bin as another reason for the two-star rating. However, the bin was said to be managed by a different waste management company who were awaiting payment from the previous owners before removing it, but with the former owners in liquidation this was not possible.

Both issues have since been recitifed.

Updates to come.