Restaurants and bars should be banned from using tips to make up their wages bill, an MP has said.

Labour MP Michael Connarty used a 10-minute rule motion on Tuesday to highlight sharp practice by hotels and restaurants who use pooled tips and gratuities as a way of getting round the minimum wage.

The Falkirk East MP told the Commons that some London restaurants pay £2.50 per hour and then use tips left by customers to meet the minimum rate demanded under the law.

This involves not only credit card and cheque payments but cash as well.

Detailing the National Minimum Wage (Tips) Bill, Connarty said the sharp practice was hitting 1.8 million people who work in the service sector and are among the most vulnerable in society.

He revealed that the abuse was possible because of the way existing legislation was written.

"I often hear people say 'it wasn't meant to be like this'. But it was. We had written this injustice into the laws of the land. Even cash tips are not going to staff," Connarty told MPs.