Jamaican-born saucier and Dragons’ Den star Levi Roots is being sued by an old friend who claims that he is the real inventor of the entrepreneur’s famous Reggae Reggae Sauce.

Tony Bailey, who worked with Roots for 17 years on a food stall, has filed a claim in the High Court for more than £300,000.

He alleges that Roots, 51, stole the sauce’s recipe from him before he appeared on the hit BBC programme three years ago.

Roots won £50,000 backing on the show after he impressed tycoon Peter Jones with a recipe he said had been devised by his grandmother.

Just 24 hours after the broadcast, Sainsbury’s offered to stock the sauce and it was soon outselling Heinz Tomato Ketchup.

It is understood that Bailey claims that Roots invented the story about his grandmother as a ‘marketing ploy’ to persuade the Dragons to back him.

Last night a source close to Bailey said Roots only learned of the sauce’s ingredients when he worked with Bailey at a takeaway food stall in Brixton, South London.

The source said: ‘The recipe for the sauce was definitely Tony’s.

‘Levi did tell Tony that he was going to go on Dragons’ Den but Tony was amazed when he then lied about the provenance of the sauce.

‘After the programme Levi made some payments to Tony which were never really explained.

‘At first it didn’t seem right to take legal action but Tony is angry at how things have turned out.’

Last night Roots said: ‘I am driving and you know how dangerous it is to be on the phone when you are driving. I can’t talk to you.’

When asked by The Mail on Sunday last December about the dispute with Bailey, he said: ‘I don’t want to say anything.’

— Daily Mail