A newspaper has printed images of television chef Nigella Lawson seemingly being choked by her husband during an outing at a seafood restaurant.

The Sunday People have a number of photographs showing billionaire Charles Saatchi grabbing his wife around the neck. Nigella is visibly upset in the pictures.

According to reports the incident happened as the couple, who are soon to be 10 years married, sat outside Scott’s in Mayfair. There were witnesses but nobody intervened.

One onlooker told the publication: “It was utterly shocking to watch. I have no doubt she was scared. It was horrific, really.”

The art collector’s behaviour has been condemned by a number of people on Twitter. Nigella herself has not yet commented on the story.

UPDATE: Nigella Lawson has been spotted leaving her house with a suitcase and her teenage son after photographs of her husband grabbing her neck were published this morning.

The mother-of-two apparently got into a taxi an hour and half after her husband left their marital home in London.