It was when people were bringing a change of shoes to walk home that a couple running an acclaimed restaurant in North Yorkshire thought: “Actually, why don’t we give you a lift?”

But the arrangement, loved by customers, has fallen foul of the council, which has informed Ruth Hansom and her husband, Mark, that were in breach of the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976.

“I got a call at the back end of last year saying what we’re doing is illegal, which obviously … I was like, oh my God,” Ruth told the Guardian. “We thought we were doing everything right. We weren’t charging for it.”

Ruth Hansom, who grew up in Darlington, trained and worked at the Ritz in London for five years. In 2017, she was the first female winner of Young National Chef of the Year. She has appeared on James Martin’s Saturday Morning food programme and won the regional heat of Great British Menu in 2020.

She opened her restaurant, Hansom, in the market town of Bedale two and half years ago. Since then, it has appeared in the Michelin Guide, and the Times critic Giles Coren last year rated it nine out of 10, eulogising about the savoury bread and butter pudding: “Gorgeous, sensual, full of love and truth.”

But while Bedale might be known as the Gateway to the Dales, there’s no evening bus service and the nearest railway station is eight miles away in Northallerton. Taxis are available, but people need to plan ahead. “We had people coming from bigger towns like York and Darlington in an Uber thinking they could get one back, but they couldn’t,” Hansom said.

Then there were customers from nearby villages unable to get a taxi for such a short journey. “We were getting lots of people deciding to walk home in the pitch black, which obviously is not safe. People were bringing a change of shoes and they’d say: ‘Oh, we’re just going to walk home.’

“We were like, oh gosh, let’s take you home because there’s no streetlights or anything down some of these roads.”

From there became an informal offer that Mark, who has a full-time job, would drive people home if it was within 10 miles. Coren, who himself had to hitch from Northallerton station to eat there, wrote about it glowingly in his review.

Then there was the phone call from the council. Hansom asked if it could be put in writing. Then came in a daunting email headed: “Allegation – Using Own Vehicle as a Private Hire Vehicle.”

It read: “Further to our conversation earlier today regarding the provision of hire and reward by providing lifts for customers of the Hansom Restaurant.

“You were advised that this transport fell within the private hire licensing regime and that should you wish to continue to provide this service a private hire operator’s licence together with licenses for the vehicle(s) and driver(s) involved must be in place. This is because while there is no separate charge made for the journey there is deemed to be a commercial benefit for the restaurant.”

The email went on to outline the various licences they would need to apply for and their cost.

So that is that for the customer lifts. Hansom said she understood the law, but was disappointed there was no effort to try to reach a workable compromise.

“There’s so many great restaurants in North Yorkshire that are bringing tourism to the area and helping the local economy,” she said. “People come up to the restaurant, but they stay for the whole weekend.”

North Yorkshire council’s corporate director for environment, Karl Battersby, said: “We are always willing to work with businesses. While offering customers lifts may seem like a helpful gesture, transporting members of the public without the proper licences in place creates serious risks for both the business and the customer.

“Following a complaint last year, we advised the restaurant owner on the legal requirements relating to private hire vehicles. These rules ensure that appropriate insurance, safeguarding measures, vehicle safety standards and driver suitability checks are in place to protect customers.”