THE brother of a girl who died after eating an Indian takeaway meal in Chorley has spoken out to help raise awareness of deadly peanut allergies.

Steven Obertelli, 19, spoke to the Citizen after local trading standards chiefs revealed eight out of 20 chicken kormas claiming to be nut-free actually contained peanuts.

His sister Kate died last July, aged 21, after eating a takeaway meal from an Indian restaurant in the Eaves Lane area. The Bolton beauty therapist was in Chorley visiting her boyfriend at the time.

She had an allergic reaction to peanuts in the meal and died after being rushed to hospital.

Steven said: "The results of the survey are shocking. Sadly I believe it's a case of the restaurants trying to cut costs.

"Kormas are supposed to contain almonds -- but peanuts covered in almond essence are much cheaper so restaurants can save money by using them.

"Kate wasn't allergic to almonds, just peanuts, and she would probably have been alive today if there weren't peanuts in her korma."

Steven, who works for Bolton Wanderers Football in the Community Programme, has the same peanut allergy as his sister and carries a life-saving epi-pen everywhere with him.

The trading standards investigation is a direct result of Kate's death, and now every restaurant in Lancashire will be sent a letter asking them to do more to protect customers.

Jim Potts, chief trading standards officer for Lancashire, said: "It's worrying. If a restaurant can't guarantee a dish is peanut-free they should refuse the order or make the customer aware.

"More work is needed because the result of our experiments are worrying but work is being done to make sure this problem is stamped out."

The Obertellis have repeatedly refused to name the restaurant which served Kate's takeaway, as they do not wish to begin a 'witch-hunt' against the owners.

But Steven believes the only way to ensure restaurateurs listen is to hit them directly where it hurts -- in the pocket.

He said: "If they are cutting corners by using peanuts because they are cheap then their only concern must be money. There should be bigger fines so that takeaway owners sit up and listen."