Michelin-starred chefs have said Gentleman's Relish should be saved after its owner announced it had axed the condiment.

The anchovy spread, officially known as Patum Peperium, was discontinued earlier this year in a decision revealed this week.

Associated British Foods (ABF) said it had made the move because of the product's reduced 'commercial appeal'.

But top chefs have criticised the decision and said the company should reveal the spread's secret recipe if it refuses to restart production.

Some of the country's most famous restaurants use the relish as an ingredient, with chefs now attempting their own version to ensure supply.

Tom Brown, whose restaurant was awarded a Michelin star in February, said Gentlemen's Relish was a national treasure.

He told The Telegraph: 'It is such a shame, it is a really versatile British product, like Worcestershire sauce or English mustard. If they aren't going to make it any more, they should release the recipe.'

Mr Brown added: 'It's good stuff. It is fermented and salty like soy or miso. I don't want to see it go, it has such a history to it.'

Glynn Purnell, whose restaurants Jessica's and Purnell's have both been awarded Michelin stars, told the newspaper he was 'gutted' to see the end of the product, adding he used it in dressings, mousses and glazes.

Fans of the spread have begun petitions and written letters in a bid to reverse the decision, while bidding on one eBay listing of a pot rose to £51 with five days remaining.

The same pot was priced at less than £5 when it was stocked in shops.

Ameer Kotecha, a food writer who wrote the Platinum Jubilee's official cookbook, has started a campaign to save the relish, writing to ABF's chief executive to urge him to release the recipe.

Mr Kotecha said 750,000 pots of Gentlemen's Relish were sold per year during its peak in 2000, which had declined to five per cent of that figure - 37,500 - at the time production was halted.

Jeremy King, who has run famous eateries including the Ivy, the Wolseley and Le Caprice, has instructed his chef at the recently reopened Simpson's on the Strand to create a version of the condiment.

Mr King told the Guardian: 'We actually make our own, due to the difficulty in obtaining, so are able to continue to serve it.'

Simpson's serves the relish on toast for £6.50.

Mr King, 71, added: 'My chef found and adapted a classic Victorian recipe for Patum Peperium, which is its proper name. It is similar to mass-produced versions, but dare I say, I prefer it.'

Favoured by the James Bond creator Ian Fleming, Gentlemen's Relish was created by John Osborn, an English grocer who lived in Paris.

He mixed anchovy fillets, rusk, butter and a secret combination of herbs and spices, releasing the product in 1828, the same year Simpson's opened.

Mr Osborn named his creation Patum Peperium, mock-Latin for pepper pâté.

Fortnum & Mason will also reportedly continue to produce and sell a version of the relish for £14.95.

Celebrity chef Nigella Lawson once named the spread as one of the ten foods she could not live without and said: 'I love Gentleman's Relish on generously buttered toast. I think of it as the savoury version of cinnamon toast, and it is just as comforting, particularly if served on white sliced.'

AB World Foods told the Daily Mail: 'While we recognise that this Victorian relish has a niche and loyal following, it sadly does not have wider commercial appeal and, despite our best efforts, retailer distribution has dwindled.

'With Gentleman's Relish no longer commercially viable and unable to secure a buyer for the brand, we regrettably stopped production earlier this year.'