A well-known city restaurateur has been ordered to pay nearly £20,000 after losing a court case over a debt of hundreds of thousands of pounds.

Kuti Miah, the charismatic entrepreneur behind iconic Kuti's Brasserie at the Grade II listed Royal Pier, applied to Southampton County Court to have a formal demand for payment of the debt set aside.

Deputy District Judge Robert Hearne dismissed the case, which centred around the amount of interest accrued on several loans to Mr Miah by Eugene Broderick, who runs Blaze Construction in Eastleigh.

(Image: Newsquest)

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Mr Miah, who petitioned for his own bankruptcy last month, did not attend the hearing and was not represented in court, but was ordered by the judge to pay Mr Broderick's costs of £19,877.

Mr Broderick, a regular customer and neighbour of Mr Miah in Highfield, told the Echo he first lent the restaurateur money back in 2011.

He said he continued to help out following a fire at the previous premises of Kuti's, in Oxford Street, and subsequent move to The Royal Pier in 2018 and during enforced Covid closures. 

Debts are believed to have reached the high hundreds of thousands of pounds, but could top £1 million if disputed interest payment figures are taken into account. 

Speaking after the hearing, Mr Broderick said: "It's extremely difficult. Once I started lending him money, I couldn't stop. He wanted the new restaurant to be the best of the best but he didn't have the money to make it that.

"I did my level best to help and I've been fair all the way through. I didn't want to go to court as it's only the solicitors who win then.

"But, it's a lot of money and I'm still going to continue to chase him. He just doesn't seem to know when to stop spending money."

Mr Miah has several companies listed by Companies House, some of which have been dissolved or are in liquidation. 

Joytun Bari Ltd, at one point the company behind Kuti's Brasserie, went into liquidation in January last year owing £840,000 to creditors.

Mr Miah has employed former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak as an unpaid waiter in his youth, and welcomed stars of sport and politics to his restaurants.

The Echo spoke to Mr Miah but he was unavailable for comment.