The owners of a new Keighley Italian restaurant claim a much larger company has ordered them to change their business’s name.

Business partners Paulo Devittoris and Umberto Annecchini opened Gusto Italian Restaurant, in Airedale Road, four months ago.

But Mr Devittoris said a chain called Gusto Restaurant and Bar recently sent them a letter warning the name was “trademarked” and that they could not use it.

He said: “For us to have to change our name seems a bit ridiculous. We’re not a massive 50-table outlet — we’re just a little restaurant and their closest place to us is in Cookridge.

“We’re no competitive threat to them whatsoever. Business here has been going really well and it’s been a very exciting time for us.

“We’ve spent thousands getting set up, so to receive a letter like this is disappointing.”

He added: “The letter we got wasn’t from a solicitor, so we don’t know whether this is some kind of scare tactic to put pressure on us.”

He said he had understood that the word “Gusto” — Italian for taste — was a descriptive word which could not be trademarked.

He pointed out that the full name of his business, Gusto Italian Restaurant, was different from Gusto Restaurant and Bar.

He added: “I used to have a clothes shop called Gusto.

“I’m of Italian descent myself, I love the name and thought it would be very apt for a restaurant.”

Mr Devittoris, 37, lives in Cottingley and said he had been involved in the restaurant trade since he left school.

He said he intended to challenge the name change demand.

According to Gusto Restaurant and Bar’s website, the brand has outlets in Cheshire, Manchester, Edinburgh, the Wirral, Liverpool and Newcastle. It is operated by a company called Living Ventures Restaurants Ltd, based in Knutsford, Cheshire.

The KN has asked it for a comment but no response had been received by the time we went to press.