The pub was given the lowest possible hygiene score. But bosses say this has now risen to three out of five following a reinspection - and a new head chef is in place.

The council initially refused to release the report to KentOnline, saying the hygiene score had been uploaded to the Food Standards Agency (FSA) website in error.

But almost six weeks later - after we continued to push to see the findings as several concerned readers got in touch about the rating - we were finally sent the document. Officials say this is because the “appropriate appeals window has now elapsed”.

The report reveals that environmental health officers uncovered the serious issues at The Woolpack on January 6 during a “partial inspection”.

“You agreed to voluntarily close the food premises due to the presence of an active cockroach infestation which poses a significant risk to health,” it said.

“There is an active infestation of German cockroaches in the food premises.

“Cockroaches foul the environment with faeces and regurgitated food.

“Furthermore, they will directly contaminate food, equipment and packaging as they move filth indiscriminately, transmitting harmful pathogenic bacteria which can lead to food poisoning.”

The inspector says any potentially contaminated food must be thrown away.

Environmental health also uncovered evidence of “poor cleaning and maintenance”.

They urged bosses to conduct more detailed cleaning in various places, including under and around equipment, as there was food debris and other dirt.

Evidence of poor cleaning was also discovered on the walk-in chiller floors and the door to the walk-in freezer.

Meanwhile, a build-up of grease and debris was found in the coves in and around the kitchen.

“Removing their food will help to get rid of the cockroaches,” the inspector said. “The premises must be thoroughly cleaned every day.”

Some food produced on site was “beyond its use-by date”, including cooked beetroot and parsnips, the report added.

The Woolpack dates back to the 16th century. In November 2019, it was one of three of the county’s top pubs snapped up by restaurant group The Pickled Egg Company, owned by Josh De Haan, son of Saga chairman Sir Roger De Haan. It now forms part of the Rocksalt Group, also owned by Josh.

Last autumn, The Times named The Woolpack one of the UK’s best pubs to visit, praising its fireside meals and selection of Kentish beers and wines.

Rocksalt Group operations director Jack Nimmons said: “By working closely with our environmental health officer (EHO), all issues raised in the report were dealt with immediately, including making changes to the senior team responsible for the running of the kitchen.

“We are delighted to now have a new head chef in place and can assure all our customers the zero rating has already been upgraded to a ‘three’, which the EHO expects to increase to a ‘five’ upon another visit in the coming weeks.”

German cockroaches thrive in hot and humid environments like kitchens and a pair of the insects can produce 10,000 offspring in a year.

They are typically 1.1cm to 1.6cm in size. Though they have wings, they can barely fly.

Our efforts to obtain food hygiene report

KentOnline first contacted ABC about the zero food hygiene rating on January 31 and requested a copy of the report, which was forwarded to the authority’s Freedom of Information (FOI) team.

This would usually be provided within 20 working days.

But on February 2 we were told our request had been refused. ABC said: “The food hygiene score has been uploaded in error and has been/is being removed from the ratings system.”

A spokesperson for the Woolpack said ABC had “advised us the food hygiene score was uploaded in error and has since been removed from the rating system”. They added: “We are currently waiting for our next inspection following which our new score will be updated.”

However, a zero-star rating continued to be displayed on the FSA website from late January and is still online today. The scores are uploaded and updated by councils.

KentOnline then submitted a further FOI request on February 13 asking whether an inspection had taken place in January, if any ABC staff member had visited the restaurant in their role at the authority and if the council had received any complaints related to food hygiene.

We also requested all emails sent between the Woolpack and ABC between January 1 and February 13 and a detailed explanation about why the report was uploaded in error.

Then on Thursday, we finally received the report.

The ABC information officer said: “The appropriate appeals window has now elapsed since the inspection and as such we are now able to provide this report.

“Additionally, please be advised this premise has had a revisit since the inspection in question, as with the original inspection, once the appropriate appeals window has elapsed, the score will be available on the Food Standards Agency webpages.”

On Thursday, we asked the authority why it had said the score was uploaded in error when we had received a report confirming the zero rating.

“The score was uploaded in error and we have nothing further to add,” ABC said.

The FSA was also contacted about the error, but declined to comment.

Rocksalt Group operations director Jack Nimmons said: “We were advised by our environmental health officer (EHO) the score was published in error and should not have gone online, hence no further response being required at the time.”