Hell Pizza has responded to a call for more restaurants to cater for coeliacs by creating a gluten-free pizza base.

The New-Zealand based pizza chain, which opened its first UK branch in London last year, told BigHospitality it was adding the option to its menu after research by charity Coeliac UK found that 67 per cent of coeliacs were unlikely to eat out because they found it difficult to find safe gluten-free food.

Hell Pizza Owner Callum Davies said: ”We first found out about coeliac disease when one of our staff mentioned he couldn’t eat pizza, which is unheard of in Hell. It turned out he was one of over 40,000 Kiwi’s with gluten intolerance so we looked into ways of creating a base for them.

"Once we’d found a well respected supplier we introduced the concept into stores and it proved as popular as hell. I’m still staggered that so few restaurants have caught on, especially here in the UK.”

Earlier this week, Coeliac UK urged restaurants to improve their offerings for customers who are gluten intolerant to cater for the estimated 660,000 coeliacs in the UK.

Gluten is a protein found in wheat, rye and barley which can cause coeliacs to become seriously unwell if they eat it.

Hell Pizza cooks gluten-free pizzas in dedicated trays and has a separate preparation area to avoid cross-contamination with flour for regular pizzas. The chain also lists nutritional and calorific content of its pizzas on menus.

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