Kannan Rathival, who owns The Chennai Lounge in Terminus Terrace, organised a special evening hosted by Saints commentator Adam Blackmore in aid of Mountbatten Hampshire hospice to celebrate the restaurant's first birthday.
A total of 40 diners booked to attend the event at the restaurant, which was named the UK's best new Indian within months of opening last March, but nearly all either cancelled within 24 hours or were no shows.
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Mr Rathnival told the Daily Echo: "At best it was a cruel joke, at worst an attempt at sabotage from other jealous restaurants perhaps.
"It's been horrible, staff disillusioned, food wasted and a big loss of expected earnings we hoped to make for the charity.
"We were hoping to raise a good amount for Mountbatten hospice and put our trust in bookings to be genuine and honest. Perhaps we’ll have to adopt a different system going forwards."
_(Image: The Chennai Lounge)_ Tickets for the event, which was due to take place on Saturday (March 1), were £50, to include a five course meal with entertainment and a live auction, with £5 from each to be donated direct to the West End based charity.
Restaurant bosses vowed to put on a bigger and better event in May, which could include the appearance of a Saints player along with the return of BBC broadcaster Adam Blackmore, a big supporter of the charity.
_(Image: The Chennai Lounge)_
Mr Rathnival added: "We’re desperate to raise a good sum for the hospice, who do so much good work for people in Southampton.
"Adam Blackmore has kindly agreed to host the night again and make it even better with a Saints player for a Q&A. We won’t let this negativity effect us, we’ll turn it into a positive and raise even more money for the charity."
The fraudulent bookings have been reported to Hampshire police.
A spokesperson said: "No crimes have currently been identified based on the information known to police at this time, however any new lines of enquiry will be reviewed."
_(Image: NQ)_