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Papa John’s has received complaints from vegans who claim they were sent real cheese pizzas when they ordered the franchise’s new vegan item.

The chain released its new “Vegan Sheese” pizzas on Monday and spoke of it being a “big hit” on social media.

“We are almost out of stock within a day,” boasted the Papa John’s UK Twitter account.

However, some customers have contacted the chain claiming once the new topping ran out at certain stores they were not told and simply sent real cheese dishes.

Papa John's has told customers it is looking into the situation “as a matter of urgency”.

One person, writing in a Facebook group for vegans, asked for reassurance upon their supposedly vegan pizza arriving as it tasted so authentic.

They wrote: “Anyone had the vegan Papa John’s? It tastes exactly how I remember real cheese tasting and I’ve had someone else try it and they said it tastes like real cheese too? Someone put my mind at ease so I can eat it please.”

Unsatisfied it was fake, they called the store and claim to have been told “they put real cheese on it because they had ran out and hadn’t told is”.

The item was marked vegan on the box, they said.

Another wrote on Twitter: “Just had a horrible experience of getting given dairy cheese instead of vegan cheese and adamantly told it was vegan. Waited two hours for another pizza to then be rang and told they ran out of stock hours ago. Only offered a pizza another time or a refund.”

He also shared a picture of the box stating it was vegan and said his girlfriend had a “severe intolerance” to dairy.

The Standard has contacted Papa John’s for comment.

It has responded to some concerns on social media and said: “We are aware of some incidents and are dealing with each and every case as we are made aware of it.

“This is something we take very seriously and we're investigating this as a matter of urgency.

“We want a chance to put this right ASAP and ensure these are isolated incidents.