Heston Blumenthal has had to close his Dinner restaurant in London after 45 diners and staff fell ill with the norovirus.

The TV chef apologised to customers at his two Michelin-starred restaurant in Knightsbridge after 24 diners and 21 staff members caught the winter vomiting bug and has said that Dinner will remained closed for a week.

Westminster City Council have said that food safety officers will continue to work with Blumenthal and his team until the restaurant is given the all clear.

This is not the first time that one of Blumenthal’s restaurants has been affected by the bug, with the flagship Fat Duck, in Bray, was closed for two weeks in 2009 after a norovirus outbreak.

Blumenthal told the Mail on Sunday:

We are in a unique position of having an insight into the behaviour of this bug and I will always err on the side of extreme caution. As The Who sang: “I won’t get fooled again”