The group had already spent €124 (around £106) on pizza before asking a waiter to slice their cake.

On receiving the bill, they discovered the €20 top-up charge for the cake slicing – equivalent to one euro per slice.

The incident has been widely discussed on social media, coming amidst reports of another restaurant owner in Liguria who charged a mother €2 (around £1.70) for an empty plate for her toddler, and a Lake Como cafe that billed a customer €2 just to cut a toasted sandwich in half, The Times reports.