Bradford Council has been urged to learn lessons after one of the most prestigious businesses in the city “slipped through the net” and relocated to the Leeds district.

The multi-award winning Prashad restaurant will next month be leaving its Bradford home of the last 22 years, in Horton Grange Road, and opening its new bigger restaurant in Whitehall Road, Drighlington.

The vegetarian restaurant, which shot to fame when it was runner-up in Gordon Ramsay’s 2010 television programme Ramsay’s Best Restaurant, has spent the last two years searching for bigger premises after being forced to turn away up to 30 guests each Friday and Saturday night.

Prashad operations director Bobby Patel said the restaurant had initially been looking to relocate to the Shipley or Saltaire area, but was unable to strike a deal on the right premises.

Two Bradford MPs last night urged the Council to be more proactive in working with existing businesses to ensure the expansion plans of successful firms could be met within the Bradford district.

But Council leader Councillor David Green said the local authority worked “extremely hard” with companies and had been successful in keeping several firms in the district recently, but admitted the Council’s economic development team had been “severely affected” by cutbacks.

Bradford South MP Gerry Sutcliffe said it was crucial for the Council to “keep an eye” on growing businesses in case they wanted to relocate.

He said: “The Council needs to know what the ambitions and plans are of these companies, particularly when they do well – everybody knows Prashad has done well so I would have thought there was a department to keep an eye on what’s going on.

“It looks like this one has slipped through the net and it’s disappointing given the successful nature of the business.”

Bradford East MP David Ward said he would not be too critical of the Council in this instance, but added: “This is an award-winning restaurant and we want businesses to be coming into Bradford not leaving it.”

Mr Ward suggested the Council looked into how it could have done more to keep the restaurant in the district.

But he said: “They may have just got some splendid offer that was too good to refuse from Leeds, but what the Council needs to do is reflect on it and review the relationship that they have had with the restaurant.”

Bradford West MP George Galloway said: “It’s very disappointing. I would be dishonest if I claimed to know whether enough had been done or whether anything had been done.”

Mr Patel said the family were looking forward to opening its new site, although it was sad to be leaving its old home.

He said: “I was born just around the corner from there and grew up just above the shop, so over the 22 years that the business has been there we have grown up there.”

Mr Patel said the company had originally searched in the Bradford district for a new site. The new site will allow the restaurant to create about 15 jobs and seat 60 diners at a time.

Mr Patel said the family wanted to remain a “single restaurant” business and had not wanted a city centre site.

Prashad has been named in the coveted Michelin Red Guide 2013, which provides details of the best restaurants in the UK. The restaurant, the only one in Bradford with a coveted AA Rosette and the most talked-about on Trip Advisor, did not contact the Council for assistance in finding new premises.

Coun Green said: “As a result of Government cuts in 2010 the Council’s economic development unit lost seven or eight million pounds funding. We put some of that back and what is clear and is accepted is that the Council’s pro-active ability has been reduced.

“I accept that because we have lost in that section about 70 per cent of staff, but we continue to work with businesses of all sizes who are in touch with us in terms of finding expansion sites.

“If we had been approached we would have done all we could to support Prashad. With limited resources it is not possible to keep in touch with every business in Bradford.

“Prashad was not looking at re-locating in the city centre but we have had massive successes in retaining and supporting businesses in Bradford, be it Provident Financial, who are expanding operations, and retaining Freeman Grattan in the city centre which has resulted in hundreds of jobs being created and retained.”