THE owner of a family-run fish and chip shop has hit out at the business strategy of an online food order and delivery service.

Haughton Chippy, which is owned by Frank Suhadolnik and his brother, Robert, use Just Eat, as well as their own website and mobile app, to sell and deliver fish and chips to customers.

Just Eat acts as an intermediary between independent take-out food outlets and customers, and Haughton Chippy, located on The Green in Haughton-le-Skerne, pay commission to the company on every order that they provide.

However, a search of his shop online lead Mr Suhadolnik to find Just Eat had positioned itself as the top search result in Google, making customers think that was the best way to order, rather than directly through the shop.

After checking, Mr Suhadolnik found a clause in the terms and conditions which said Just Eat "may carry out marketing activities using your brand" and may also "create and promote a website with a domain of our choosing which allows consumers to view your products".

They also state a business "gives consent to use your name and logo" by signing the terms.

Mr Suhadolnik said his business had lost a number of direct customer and the "phone just stopped ringing", and he wrote to Just Eat about his concerns.

Although he accepts the terms and conditions, he believes the company should do more to make customers aware of how it operates.

In the letter, Mr Suhadolnik, said: "Your platform accounts for what we consider to be a very healthy proportion of our delivery revenue and we’ve been very happy to pay commission for the custom that you bring us.

"We can live with a third of our revenue coming to us through your platform but we can’t live with 100 per cent. The commission associated with that would kill us.

"We are only a small business but we’ve worked very hard to establish ourselves as a business in Darlington.

"It’s difficult enough competing with the competition for business without having to compete with our suppliers and partners."

A spokesperson for Just Eat said: “Supporting our restaurant partners to grow their businesses is a fundamental part of our model.

“Many of our partners don't have the time or resource to engage in the digital world, so when our partners join our platform, we commit to supporting them with restaurant-level marketing in the digital space.

“This includes bidding on AdWords on their behalf and creating a free dedicated website for each partner for example ­ this is included in our restaurant terms and conditions.

“Our partners are independent from us and remain firmly in control of their own businesses at all times, so we operate an exclusion list for AdWords which enables them to flex in and out of this support as they see fit.

“We were in touch with the owner of the Haughton Chippy last week, and we chatted through our process here and we've since resolved his issue.

“As far as we're aware he's very happy with our relationship and looking to continue to work closely with us as he expands his business.”