A Darlington business has sadly been subjected to racist abuse after a ‘customer’ complained.

Abu Raihan is the front-of-house manager at Akbar The Great on Bondgate in Darlington.

Yesterday (August 7), he received a call from someone who claimed to have eaten in the restaurant the evening before and had ordered some lamb chops that were not cooked properly, and wanted to know what compensation he would get.

Abu’s responded by saying that Akbar does not serve lamb chops and that he must have called the wrong restaurant.

The caller then preceded to tell Abu “You're lying to me, ***k off back to where you came from.”

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Abu, taken aback by the man, asked: “Back to where I came from? Do you mean Bradford, where my family home is? Darlington, where my business is? Or Harrogate, where I was born?”

The caller then told Abu to “***k off” again and then put the phone down.

The Northern Echo: Abdul Mannan and Abu Raihan run Akbar The Great on Bondgate in Darlington. Picture: SARAH CALDECOTT Abdul Mannan and Abu Raihan run Akbar The Great on Bondgate in Darlington. Picture: SARAH CALDECOTT

Abu told The Northern Echo: “He first accused me of lying, I said why would I lie about something we don’t do? He told me to eff off and go back to where I came from.

"I knew what he meant but I diverted it another way so I asked him if he meant Bradford, Darlington or Harrogate and then he got frustrated by my reply and he just said eff off and put the phone down.

“It wasn’t a long interaction. I didn’t expect his response and he didn’t expect my response. I didn’t expect him to say something like that in this day and age but there are still some people around with that mentality.

“I was a bit shocked when he said it and I thought I can either get angry and swear or I can explain to him in a nice way and that annoyed him more. I’m sure this has happened at other places as well."

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