Pizza chefs in Naples have handed out free Margherita pizzas in a protest over prices being raised.

In the city where the classic pizza with a mozzarella and tomato topping was invented in the early 19th century, about 30 pizza chefs lit up six wood-burning ovens to cook 5,000 pizzas for queues of local people and tourists.

The president of the Association of Pizza chefs in Naples, Sergio Miccu, said: "It is a strong protest that starts from Naples and hopefully will spread to other cities.

"We do not want speculation over pizza prices, there are cities like Rome and Milan where the prices hit 7, 8, even 10 euros (up to £8).

"We say a fair price must be established of about 3.50 or 4 euros (£3.20)."

The chefs want stricter controls on pizza prices from the government in a country where the price of staple foods like flour and pasta have soared in line with commodity prices.

Commodity prices, like fuel prices, have fallen back from record highs in the past month on worries about global consumer and business demand as the world economy heads into a slowdown.

But retail prices have so far failed to reflect that trend.

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