While customers have started tightening their belts, food prices have rocketed, leaving staff with little choice but to cut their profits.

The hikes in prices of everyday staples has been so dramatic they have even pushed up the rate of inflation which climbed to 3.8 per cent last month, the highest rate for 11 years.

Food prices have been under increasing pressure thanks to rocketing oil, gas and electricity prices, growing global demand for crops to be used for biofuels and rising demand for certain foods in developing countries like China and India.

In the last month alone there have been increases in prices of beef and pork sausages, rice, white bread, biscuits and frozen pizza.

But with the threat of a recession looming, and with customers cutting back on spending to cope, business is getting tougher for the county's caterers.

Hao Dang, who owns Dang's Vietnamese restaurant in Wellingborough Road, said the last year had been particularly tough.

She said: "Our wine has gone up by £1 per bottle, and the food has gone up as well. I'm really, really struggling. I think it is affecting everybody though. This time last year we were a lot busier than we are now, and I've talked to people in the same business and they say their takings have dropped down to almost half of what they were last year."

Meanwhile Colin Wong, director of Aroma in Sol Central, said he was staying positive in spite of seeing the price of some staples like rice go up by 25 per cent in the last month.

He said the business – which has branches in other parts of the country as well – was spending an extra £3,000 a month on neck end of pork alone but he was determined not to push up prices for customers.

He said: "Running restaurants is always stressful, but business had been quite good because, I think, we offer good value for money. Successful businesses will cope with any downturn, they always do. If customers stay loyal and my costs don't keep increasing I will hold them as long as possible, for at least three months, hopefully."