THE OWNER of a small Sardinian snack bar has become an unlikely icon for the proprietors of small Italian businesses after incurring the wrath of McDonalds – all because his outlet has a ‘Mc’ in the name.

32-year-old Ivan Puddu called his café McPuddu’s – only to end up receiving letters from McDonald’s solicitors, who claimed that he was deliberately trying to confuse punters by fooling them into thinking it was a McDonald’s franchisee.

Puddu stood his ground – explaining later that his speciality dish, a stuffed pasta filled with sheep’s cheese, mint and potato – was probably not going to be mistaken for a Big Mac.

“Over here, the parcels are made by hand on Sundays in Sardinian homes,” he told La Repubblica. “They are good, old-fashioned and a family ritual.”

Puddu hasn’t had the money to fight the order – so instead has had to nail a plank of wood over the Mc- prefix to his bar’s name.

But now even the local government has stood up to offer its help, claiming to shoulder any legal costs Puddu might incur by defending his case. The pasta parcels, known as culurgiones, “have been around a lot longer than the cheeseburger” according to the regional agricultural assessor.

The cause has gathered steam with other food producers, who argue that Italy loses billions every year because of foreign copies of its native cuisines.