THE trial of an Indian restaurant owner accused of manslaughter has heard how a teenage girl with a nut allergy was left terrified after eating a single spoonful of a curry from another of his restaurants.

Ruby Scott, 17, panicked as she went into anaphylactic shock, leading to her face and throat becoming swollen, her vomiting and becoming covered in hives, after tasting a chicken korma from Mohammed Zaman's Jaipur Spice restaurant in Easingwold, North Yorkshire, on January 3, 2014.

The hearing at Teesside Crown Court, which centres on whether the restaurateur intentionally swapped groundnut powder for almond powder as an ingredient in his curries to save money, was also told Darlington was an area where many restaurants used the cheaper ingredient.

One of Zaman's suppliers, Jubal Ahmed, said he warned restaurants he supplied in the town that groundnut powder should not be used as a substitute for almond powder, as it could trigger allergic reactions.

Other firms that supplied Zaman said they had either stopped selling groundnut powder due to the potential consequences or had issued a warning to the restaurateur.

Imtiaz Gurji, of Khanjra International Foods, said Zaman had ordered almond powder for 15 years before replacing it with groundnut powder about seven months before both Miss Scott and another customer Paul Wilson, of Helperby, near Thirsk, suffered reactions to supposedly nut-free curries.

Mr Gurji said on January 8, 2014, five days after Miss Scott's reaction, Zaman ordered 50kg of groundnut powder, which would have cost about £250 less than almond powder.

Bar manager and father Mr Wilson, a nut allergy sufferer, died 22 days later, minutes after tasting a chicken tikka masala from Zaman's Indian Garden restaurant, in Easingwold.

The court heard a statement from Miss Scott, who had checked with restaurant staff that the takeaway meal did not contain nuts, in which she said she desperately tried to brush the sauce from her mouth, but was rushed to hospital as her reaction worsened.

Doctors confirmed Miss Scott had suffered a reaction to peanuts, which she had been diagnosed with two years previously, and was given an injection and steroids to stabilise her.

Richard Wright, prosecuting, said her mother, Marianne, later phoned the restaurant to ask if the chicken korma contained peanuts and was told by staff many times that the dish only contained coconut and almonds.

Zaman, of Huntington, York, denies manslaughter by gross negligence, perverting the course of justice and six food safety offences.

The trial continues.