An Italian restaurant says it faced a 'torrent of abuse' and 'vitriolic attacks' on social media after being wrongly named as having catered for the Conservative Party Conference.
The owner of Il Forno, based on Duke Street in Liverpool, said today the restaurant felt 'compelled to set the record straight'.
The British Italian Conservatives Group tagged Il Forno in a social media post, naming the business as an official supplier to the Tory conference held in Manchester.
That was followed by a large number of negative responses on social media, with a number of people stating they would not be spending money with Il Forno again, reports the Liverpool Echo.
But the message on Twitter from the British Italian Conservatives Group was later deleted.
They have now issued an apology, confirming the information was incorrect.
The Conservative Party Conference was held over four days in central Manchester earlier this month.
The group said: "We apologise for a message that was sent with the wrong information.
"Il Forno Restaurant in Liverpool has never supplied catering for the British Italian Conservatives.
"An independent company supplied the service without any political affiliation or connection to us."
Paolo Cillo, owner of Il Forno and Crust restaurants, said he and his staff were 'overwhelmed by a torrent of abuse' after the incorrect message was put out.
Mr Cillo said they have been sent a letter of apology.
He said: "We are deeply concerned and disappointed that the British Italian Conservatives wrongly named Il Forno as a catering supplier at the Conservative party conference in Manchester.
"It is our understanding that another business, unrelated to Il Forno or Crust, provided the catering for the Conservative Party conference.
"We have now received a letter of apology from the Conservatives clarifying their mistake.
"As a proud Liverpool business of 17 years we feel overwhelmed by the vitriolic attacks with a torrent of abuse by some on social media for something we had no involvement with, and we feel compelled to set the record straight."
