A Chinese restaurant closed in bizarre circumstances after a bust-up between the owner and his ex-wife, writes Stephen Deal.

Regular customers were left baffled after finding the Hong Kong House, in South Parade, Oxford, shut - and a poster in the window claiming the reason was because staff had been intimidated.

The poster, signed by Tina Man, read: "My ex-husband Fook Tsang (Alan) intimidate all my staff not to work for me."

She added that the restaurant would stay closed until further notice. The section of the sign making allegations against Mr Tsang has since been folded out of public view and a second notice has appeared, advising customers that Mrs Man is now working at Friends Restaurant in nearby Woodstock Road.

Mr Tsang, 50, was married for 25 years before the couple divorced this year. He denied intimidating staff.

He told the Oxford Mail it was a heat-of-the-moment claim made by his ex-wife after the two fell out.

Mr Tsang, who said he owned both restaurants which the couple had taken on in happier times, added: "It is all due to a personal problem with my wife." Asked if he had intimidated staff, he said: "No, no. She just can't get the staff. That's why she has gone down to Friends."

He said he could not understand why she had written what she did, other than a moment of temper. "You can't stop people talking behind you," he added.

He said he hoped the couple would now sit down and talk things through - then re-open the Hong Kong House.

"I am going to open it up shortly," he promised.

Mrs Man was not available for comment.

Story date: Monday 03 May

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.