Celebrity chef Rick Stein has blamed meals inflation and rising vitality prices after charging clients £2 for condiments at his fish and chip restaurant in Cornwall.

Customers have been left underwhelmed after being requested to pay further for the likes of mayonnaise, tartar sauce and mushy peas on the Padstow eatery.

A spokeswoman for the superstar chef defended Stein's Fish and Chips' choice to cost clients an additional £2 for condiments, arguing it's because of the present financial local weather.

"Our homemade condiments using Rick Stein's special recipes are prepared in Padstow by our team of chefs. Food inflation, energy costs, along with rising wages, have driven up the cost of production significantly," she stated.

"We have reluctantly, along with many others, had to pass on some of the costs to our customers."

A serving of cod and chips at Stein's Fish and Chips in Padstow is priced at £16.95, whereas its on-line menu shows sea bass and chips for £18.95. Customers can add a aspect of mushy peas for an additional £2.

Several folks have expressed their "disappointment" on the prospect of paying for condiments, with some suggesting to "boycott" the eatery.

"Rick Stein's charging £2 for a sachet of mayonnaise to go with his £17.95 takeaway cod and chips in Padstow," journalist Rebecca Tidy wrote on X, previously often known as Twitter.

"Cornwall's rich-poor divide is massive."

Another X person wrote: "That's pure greed, customers should vote with their feet at Rick Stein's fish restaurant and boycott it."