The public came to the defense of a popular restaurant since news broke that it was handed a zero out of five hygiene rating. 

Momo House, a Lebanese restaurant, was recently given the lowest rating by the Food Standards Agency.

During an inspection of the restaurant on Farnham Drive, Caversham, officers found the usual mains gas supply to the premises had been replaced by five Liquefied Petroleum gas bottles. 

Kitchen appliances connected to the mains gas had been removed and replaced with equipment purchased on Facebook marketplace, allowing the highly combustible LPG gas bottles to be connected with a shortened hose, without the need for a gas engineer.

After social media caught wind of the new hygiene score, Mark Smith posted the following on Facebook to air his grievances. 

He said "How are places that score a zero in food hygiene allowed to stay open? Momo House had an inspection in September and scored a zero. Avoid like the plague."

Almost two hundred people then flooded the comment section, many standing up for the establishment and questioning why a hygiene rating should relate to kitchen safety.

One person wrote "It was due to gas, not any pest problems. I ate there about two weeks ago as I love Momo and it was still just as good as ever. I hope they have sorted the gas issue and can bounce back with their rating."

In agreement with the previous comment, another person wrote "The food hygiene ratings are an absolute joke... An establishment can be deemed "acceptable" for overall hygiene, but still score a zero for bad management."

A further person said "I'm really sorry to read this as I like Momo House. I've never been ill after eating there or getting a takeaway. I hope they get issues sorted out soon."

Dozens of other commenters also came to the defense of the independent, with a considerable amount of people expressing annoyance at the post being published in the first place. 

One person wrote "Are you just hell-bent on causing problems for all small businesses?

"I have no idea why you even care! If people don't want to visit they can make their own minds up. I think you should be banned from this site! Poison!"

In agreement with the previous comment, another person said "Momo has probably been given zero because of the illegal gas found in the kitchen they will have another visit within six weeks to re-score.

"Council probably just making a point so they don't do it again."