The owners of an upmarket restaurant say they need "a Christmas miracle" to save their business after fraudsters scammed them out of £50,000.

Barletta, nestled within the Turner Contemporary on Margate's seafront, is facing the prospect of closure after thieves stole the huge sum from the company.

Owner Natalia Ribbe told KentOnline the loss has shattered her business.

"It has completely crippled our cash flow," she said.

"We have rent to pay, we have suppliers to pay, we have staff to pay. Losing this £50,000 has meant we are close to filing for bankruptcy."

Natalia first noticed suspicious activity last month, when small amounts began disappearing from one of her accounts.

She reported it, but the sophisticated scammers - anticipating that she would have raised the issue with her bank - called her posing as bank officials.

"Naturally I thought 'yes that’s great, please can you fix it', and it turns out they were not the bank; they were professional criminals," she said.

The incident happened in early October, and despite "weeks of trying and trying to get the money back", her online bank has decided not to refund the money.

"They say they are Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) protected but they are missing a clause that protects you from the type of scam we were involved in, meaning they don't have to refund the money."

"They just said 'no you're not getting it back'."

A fundraising campaign has now been set up to help save the business.

"This is our last hope - we need a Christmas miracle to save us..."

"My friend took it upon herself to launch the GoFundMe page yesterday," Natalia said

"We've had good shares on social media and have raised £1,250 so far."

Barletta was founded by Natalia and Jackson Berg in 2019 as a pop-up at Dreamland, before putting down roots at the Turner art gallery in 2021.

The menu takes inspiration from the couple's favourite places to eat whilst travelling around the globe.

Natalia, 37, is most concerned about leaving her team of 17 staff unemployed, who are spread across the seafront restaurant and Seté, a new wine bar she opened with Jackson last month in Cliftonville.

"We have a whole team of people and it's about saving their jobs," she said.

"This is our last hope - we need a Christmas miracle to save us."