A CITY centre restaurant has closed just months after opening.

Panama Jacks has opted to shut down for good following a hygiene inspection last month in which it scored a zero – its second since opening in October last year.

The Angel Place Texas-style burger and steakhouse had initially informed followers of its Facebook page it was closed for a “refit & refresher” between May 5 and May 10.

But having not posted anything since May 8 and remaining closed, the Worcester News contacted the city council and were told the restaurant was officially closed on May 9.

The council had served the business with improvement notices two days before the closure and its last trading day appears to have been May 4.

Hygiene inspectors visited the restaurant on April 30 and deemed it was still only worthy of a zero rating.

The inspection report from the programmed visit in October cited no running hot water, as well as staff’s lack of allergen knowledge, amongst the reasons for the low rating.

However, after the boiler was fixed days later it was no longer considered to present an ‘imminent risk’ to public health and inspectors allowed it to open to the public on November 2.

But there were still out-of-date drinks in the walk-in chiller, incorrectly labelled food and storage issues, including cooked pulled pork set to be kept for six months, according to a follow-up report.

We have applied to the council for the latest hygiene inspection report.

A business can pay to be re-inspected at any time or simply wait for the next programmed visit six months later.

A council spokesman said no new operator of the premises has been registered with Worcestershire Regulatory Services.

When we spoke to owner Phil Davies in February, he said: “All the things that should have been done, are being done, and we just hope and pray that it comes out the other side.”

The venue was originally set to open in August as a high-end bar but the stand-alone bar licence was rejected.

This meant the opening had to be pushed back by months and up to £60,000 spent re-imagining it as a steakhouse.

He had originally opened with business partner Matt Williams before buying him out earlier this year, he said.

We have contacted Mr Davies for comment.