It is notorious for being the late night snack of choice when one too many pints of lager may have impaired your culinary judgement.

But making sure your drink-fuelled dinner of takeaway kebab doesn't come with a side order of food poisoning is a serious business.

According to Southend Council's food safety directory of confidence, which rates food hygiene standards, kebab shops account for some of the worst scores among local eateries.

Steve Ramm, principal environmental health officer at the council, said lack of handwashing and not preventing cross contamination through bad storage practices are the main reasons for the poor ratings.

"The thing about kebab shops is that they seem to have their particular problems," he explained, "and there is likely to be a cultural element with the staff involved.

"They are among the most likely to say we have been doing this for years and don't particularly want to take advice. That is a generalisation and they are not all that bad, but there is enough out there to make that statement true."

Failure to comply with standards can bring a hefty fine as the owner of a Pitsea kebab shop found last week after being prosecuted by Basildon Council.

Huseyin Yildiz was ordered to pay £6,000 after inspectors discovered staff were not washing their hands even after using the toilet as well as filth, grease, mould and poor food storage facilities at Essex Kebab and Pizza House in Station Lane.

According to Mr Ramm, lack of handwashing is a big problem among kebab shop staff. "We do frequently during our inspections see sinks for handwashing that quite clearly have not been used for some time," he explains.

"Another thing is cross contamination. They have a habit of putting ready to eat items such as salad between themselves and the raw meat so that when they lift the meat they are lifting it over the salad.

"That presents a danger that pieces of raw meat could drop in the salad below. But many see it only as a theoretical risk of contamination."

Storing food at the correct temperature both when cold and when cooked is a major tool in helping to prevent the spread of bacteria.

Mr Ramm said: "Storing food at the correct temperature requirements is also a particular problem in many kebab shops."

Those problems could mean a nasty dose of food poisoning for customers or at the very worst even death.

"Meat, particularly raw red meat such as the lamb used in kebabs needs careful monitoring," said Mr Ramm. "One of the big problems otherwise is E-coli O157 which you tend to hear about in the news."

Even if you manage to avoid an added portion of E-coli with your meal, you can still be at risk of other nasty strains of bacteria which can lead to severe vomiting and diahorrhea.

"There are plenty about," warned Mr Ramm, "things like salmonella and campylobacter, which has actually taken over from salmonella as the most likely cause of food poisoning."