Britain’s dirtiest pubs named and shamed: one in forty drinkers fail hygiene rating… so is yours one of them?

Millions of Brits will be heading to their local pub between now and the New Year.

At hundreds of locations across the country, however, revelers aren’t just risking a hangover with a little excess.

Data from the Food Standards Agency (FSA) shows that there are 1,296 pubs, bars and nightclubs that are so dirty they have failed food hygiene inspection.

This, MailOnline can reveal, amounts to almost one in forty.

In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, all locations where food is served are rated on a scale between zero and five.

Companies that score two or lower are not meeting the minimum standards and at least ‘some’ improvement is needed.

Inspectors visiting such locations may find rotting food and rodent droppings or unsafe food storage habits.

In Scotland, venues are assessed on a binary pass/fail basis.

Of the companies on the bankrupt list outside Scotland, a MailOnline analysis of FSA data shows that 584 were given a rating of two.

A further 445 were rated one – meaning major improvement is needed – and 43 were given the lowest possible rating of zero, meaning ‘urgent improvement needed’.

The data was correct as of December 6.

In Scotland, 224 businesses were rated as ‘Requires Improvement’.

Local governments are responsible for inspecting businesses in their area at least once every two years.

Earlier this month, MailOnline revealed that 50,000 businesses serving food had never been inspected.

Another 160,000 had not been inspected in two years.

Of the 50,000 businesses that had never been inspected, 1,991 were bars, pubs or nightclubs.

In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, almost 33,700 bars, pubs and clubs out of a total of 51,781 have the maximum rating of five. Another 7,766 score a four.

The FSA has called for greater investment by local authorities in their environmental health departments that carry out food standards inspections.

Many local authorities have struggled to recruit enough qualified staff and have failed to carry out sufficient inspections.

The FSA claims the inspection is a ‘snapshot’ of food hygiene standards. Their reviews do not cover things like food quality, customer service, culinary skills, presentation or comfort.

They focus on the handling of food, how it is stored and prepared. They also consider the cleanliness of the facilities and how food safety is managed.

According to the data, Birmingham had the highest number of substandard bars and restaurants in the country, with 26 failing to achieve appropriate food safety levels, followed by Cornwall, Powys and Wiltshire.

West London’s hospitality industry is the worst in the capital, with 15 bars and restaurants failing to meet current standards.

Waltham Forest has the highest number of zero-rated bars and pubs, with four, followed by East Lindsey, Doncaster and Cornwall.