Salt Bae's upmarket London steak restaurant descended on by activists

Activists have targeted the Knightsbridge steak restaurant owned by controversial chef Salt Bae.

Animal Rebellion, an offshoot of Extinction Rebellion, is campaigning for a "plant-based food system and mass rewilding".

They said that eight people entered the Nusr-et steakhouse in the upmarket central London district at about 6pm on Saturday and sat at tables that had already been reserved.

Student Ben Thomas, 20, said: "Restaurants like these are symbolic of a broken system.

"Whilst two million people are relying on food banks in the UK right now, influencer chefs are selling gold-plated steaks for more than £1,000.

"Steaks, and other red meats, that we know carry the highest environmental impacts."

Video shared by the protest group showed a woman being carried out onto the street by restaurant staff, and left to sit on the curb.

The Metropolitan Police said officers were called to the scene just after 6pm, but found their attendance was not needed as the protesters had left by then.

The restaurant, one of more than a dozen Nusr-Et Steakhouse branches around the world, opened late last year and its prices quickly astonished diners.

A receipt from one diner was shared online soon after the opening showing a rack of lamb costing £200, a giant tomahawk steak for £630, £9 for a Coca-Cola, £11 for a Red Bull, £12 for sweetcorn and £100 for a "golden burger".

The man behind it is Nusret Gokce, who found internet fame in 2017 thanks to a video of him theatrically dropping salt from a height on to steak.

Animal Rebellion's Twitter feed said there had also been a protest at Manchester's Mana restaurant "to demand an end to climate chaos, inequality and animal exploitation in the form of a transition to a plant based future".

Video footage shared just after 9.30pm showed one person being hauled out of the restaurant by a man with a police vest and others.

It comes weeks after a similar stunt at Gordon Ramsay's three-star Michelin restaurant in London's Chelsea district.