An Italian pizzeria has defended a bizarre EUR-15 fee for cutting customers’ cake, saying it was difficult to slice it into 10 equally sized portions and then arrange it on the plates to make it look nice.

Disgruntled customer Fabio Bregolato started an online social media storm when he revealed how the local pizzeria in Pino Torinese, a small municipality four miles south of Turin, charged him to slice a birthday cake that the party of 10 brought from home since the eaterie does not offer desserts.

In a social media post, Fabio vented: “We were supposed to celebrate a birthday.

“There were ten of us, excellent pizza, and the service was well done, but… EUR 15 [GBP 12.8] to cut a cake we brought ourselves was quite a style faux pas.”

With the post, Fabio shared a photo that shows the bizarre charge listed at the bottom of the receipt.

Fabio continued: “They could have let it slide; in my 40 years (and I’ve eaten a lot of pizzas), I’ve never come across a place that charged an extra fee for cutting a cake.”

Fabio claims to have informed them about the cake, adding: “The pizzeria couldn’t make a dessert, but they said we could bring our own cake from outside.”

A controversy has erupted on social media, with some users supporting Fabio, while others emphasised that it is a standard service.

One user said: “It happened to me in Carmagnola. I paid EUR 2 [GBP 1.7] for each slice of cake.”

The pizzeria’s owners also responded, saying: “We duly noted it on the receipt and pay our taxes. It’s a service and, as such, has a cost.”

They claimed Fabio did not even mention the cake he brought from home when making the reservation.

They went on: “When he arrived, he showed us the cake and said, ‘Will you take care of it?’ Nothing else.

“We are not obliged to provide this service, especially because we risk serving something we didn’t make ourselves.

“We know this well; we specialise in products for people with celiac disease and intolerances.”

After confirming that the cake was store-bought, they claimed they agreed to cut it and serve it.

They added: “But it was tiny, enough for no more than six people, and there were ten of them.

“The waitress took the cake to the kitchen and, with effort, cut ten acceptable slices.

“She arranged them on the plate very nicely to make a good impression on the customer despite the small portions.

“In short, between cutting, arranging, and serving at the table, she spent 25 minutes, during which I couldn’t have her do anything else.”