Diners at top London restaurants are facing charges as much as ￡100 per reservation as the measures are intended to prevent “reservation squatting”.

       Gymkhana, a two-Michelin-starred Indian restaurant in Mayfair, is one example of a restaurant that requires customers to pay a fee upfront—it has imposed a ￡100 minimum spend upon booking.

       Similarly, Hutong in the skyscraper Shard charges ￡80 when making a reservation on Fridays and Saturdays. Chutney Mary in St James’s, another high-end London establishment, asks for a minimum spend of ￡60 per person.

       Gymkhana introduced the policy at the end of last year due to “the number of cancellations and no-shows we were seeing per service,” they told the Financial Times.

       READ MORE: Panic in Spain as fears grow British expats will abandon country for France

       “The large volumes of bots and reservation resale websites” pushed the Indian restaurant to impose booking restrictions after winning its second Michelin star.

       The owner of Chutney Mary, MW Eat, said they introduced the measures to tackle “curry-house hangover experiences”. This is where large groups of people order just a few main dishes, but with many cheaper sides.

       Consumer expert Martyn James said: “I suspect quite a lot of the wealthier set may have moved on or may just not be engaging in displays of conspicuous wealth anymore, and it may factor in that some of them have left, but when you create a destination venue you effectively become a victim of success.”

       Mr James explained that many restaurants have created such a high demand for reservations that people will use “bots to get their reservations, but they might not end up going because they have booked through a third party.”

       READ MORE: National Trust members 'consider leaving' over changes at popular country house

       Many establishments have chosen to impose smaller booking fees per head. Chris D’Sylva, owner of the one-Michelin-starred Dorian in Notting Hill, said he had brought in “a slightly punitive deposit” of ￡25 per person due to people making multiple bookings online using online services yet only turning up to one.

       He labelled the practice “reservation-squatting” because “there’s no penalty associated with making a reservation.”

       Despite understanding restaurant bosses' desire for financial security measures, he told the FT that minimum spending for small parties was “a very dangerous idea” because it sent a negative message.

       “It’s something to drive away influencers that come, and all they want to do is say that they were there, get the benefit of the social currency, and post on their Instagram to the detriment of the business,” he said.