A family-run restaurant has pleaded for customers to have "common decency" after saying there were "20 no-shows" in one night.
Cookfella's Wine Bar and Eatery, in Guisborough, has a five-star rating on TripAdvisor, based on 746 reviews.
Owners Wayne and Helen Leonard have spoken out against the increase in 'no-shows' the business is experiencing.
They said they had one night where "20 covers" did not turn up or let the owners know.
The couple wrote on Facebook that this happens "on a daily basis" and that it is damaging their business.
In a Facebook post, they wrote: "So, in our nearly 10 years of trading as Cookfella's, Helen and I have never written a negative post, but.... We are experiencing an extremely high number of 'no shows!'
"Tonight alone we have had two large tables (over 20 covers) not turn up for their booking nor have they had the common decency to contact us to let us know so that we could resell the tables. This is all before 7pm!
"Saturday evenings are our bread and butter and are in such huge demand that we often fill up the prime times weeks in advance.
"Our industry is on its knees with the economy/energy price increases/commodity price increases/living wage increases (totally understand that one), staff shortages & many other challenges.
"We have invested heavily in an easy-to-use reservation system. It is also so easy to cancel a booking.
"Simply by responding 'cancel' on your confirmation email. If you are one of these guilty persons, please have the common decency to call and let us/any restaurant know to enable them to potentially resell the table.
"For information, our new fancy system logs those numbers/emails/names that do not show and allows us to block them from booking again. Apologies for this message but it is happening on a daily basis now and is damaging our family-run local business."
Earlier this year, we reported how a top restaurant hit back at a customer who complained that they were charged a no show fee for forgetting to cancel their booking.
The Laundrette, in Manchester, charged the customer £60 after she 'forgot' to cancel her table, M.E.N reports.
The venue then hit back at the disgruntled customer, who also said she works in hospitality, on the review site Tripadvisor saying: "Your table sat completely empty for two hours on a day we were fully booked.
"This is why you were charged."
