Indian restaurants in Oxford could be forced to close due to staff shortages caused by new immigration laws.

Restaurant owners have previously been allowed to bring in staff from Bangladesh on short-term contracts, but fewer workers are being given visas, and those that are allowed to work are not permitted to renew their visas.

Aziz Rahman, owner of Aziz restaurant, in Cowley Road, Oxford, said: "There will be a huge gap.

"It's going to be a great strain on the industry -- it's a big concern for people to find unskilled workers.

"In Oxford there is high employment and more and more children of restaurateurs are getting a high level of education and are not interested in the restaurant business.

"We have lost two staff within the space of 15 days because their visas expired.

"Before, they would go home and then come back once their visas had been renewed and then carry on learning and building on the work they had already done.

"We have already had to advertise for kitchen helpers and have had no response.

"We do employ students but they can only do part-time hours. We need two full-time workers for the back and two out the front.

"The sous-chef is going to be reluctant to peel potatoes.

"The problem is made worse by the fact that in the past, girls used to go back to marry and then bring over a husband who, because he could not speak the language, would work in the family restaurant.

"Now girls are marrying in England and their husbands don't necessarily want to go into the trade."

Saeul Ahmed, a worker at Aziz, must return to Bangladesh by Monday (March 21) when his visa expires.

Kyrul Islam, 35, who runs the Taste Of India tandoori restaurant at The Green in Horspath, Oxford, said: "We have tried to recruit staff through job centres but it is becoming increasingly difficult.

"In the kitchens it helps if they are Bangladeshi and know the traditions and speak the language, but they don't have to be.

"I was brought up in this country and have been working in the trade since the age of 14, but young people nowadays are saying the hours are too long and they want to do something else."

The Guild of Bangladeshi Restaurateurs is leading a campaign to convince the Government that Indian restaurants should be considered as a special case when it comes to new immigration rules.

Guild chairman Enam Ali said: "We are staring at a staffing shortage that could threaten restaurateurs' very existence.

"By our calculations, our industry this year will have more than 7,000 job vacancies that it will be unable to fill from the domestic or European market.

"At best that jeopardises any expansion plans. At worst -- and I fear this will be the more common scenario -- it threatens the whole business."

Oxford East MP Andrew Smith has lent his support to the campaign. He said: "Restaurateurs have contacted me about the recruitment difficulties they face.

"I am taking up the issue with the Home Secretary and I shall also be looking at what can be done to attract and train local people for these vacancies."