Experts also point at high operating cost and pressure to keep prices low

Experts have warned that Indian restaurants are closing at an alarming rate in Britain as the industry faces 'the biggest crisis in its history'.

Figures published by The Sun on Sunday show that 2,000 curry houses have closed in the past five years all over the country.

The decline, which started in 2000, is blamed on the high operating cost and the pressure to keep prices low.

This map shows the number of Indian restaurants and pubs that have shut up shop in the past five years in Britain

Figures published by The Sun on Sunday show that 2,000 curry houses have closed in the past five years all over the country

The depressing trend coincides with the crisis of the British pubs, with 7,000 of them closing from 2005

Aggressive market strategy and competition from chains such as Pizza Express and Nando's was also cited as one of the reasons for the falling numbers.

The first Indian restaurant in Britain was opened in 1810 in London's upmarket George Street by an Indian migrant, Dean Mahomet.

The Hindoostanee Coffee House offered 'Indian dishes, in the highest perfection… unequalled to any curries ever made in England,' as a newspaper advert said.

Diners could smoke hookah pipes and recline on bamboo-cane sofas as they tucked into spicy meat and vegetable dishes.

But it was not until the 1970s that curry houses became popular and spread across the UK. Following an influx of Bangladeshis in London's East End, the number of Indian restaurants mushroomed to 16,000 by 2010.

Now, according to The Sun on Sunday, even popular Brick Lane's restaurants are closing down, with 30 of its 50 Indian curry houses shutting up in the past five years.