DOZENS of curry houses are displaying worthless certificates claiming they are top restaurants.

The certificates praise the food, quality and service without ever checking the premises. The scandal was discovered by East Sussex Trading Standards officers who set up their office in Eastbourne as an Indian restaurant calling it the Spice of India. Trading standards chief David Marshall believes "a high proportion" of the 300 Indian and Balti restaurants in Sussex have worthless certificates. He said: "I was in my local curry house in Seaford when the owner told me about the certificates. "We sent off for three using our Eastbourne office address in Upperton Gardens, calling it the Spice of India. "One certificate from the Asian Food Guide, praising the restaurant's quality, came back after paying a fee of £60. Not a single check had been carried out." Mr Marshall said the council were powerless to act. He said: "They don't appear to be breaking any law. The other two organisations they applied to requested more information and the investigation against them was dropped. Mohammed Ali Hayder who owns Mr Marshall's local restaurant, the Moon of India, in Sutton Park Road, Seaford, said: "Some restaurants are claiming all sorts of things, such as Five Star service or to be in the Asian Food Guide."

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