London Evening Standard/London

Nigella Lawson’s husband yesterday declared that pictures of him taking his wife by the neck outside a London restaurant showed nothing more than a “playful tiff”.

Charles Saatchi admitted the couple had a row as they sat outside Scott’s in Mayfair but said they had “made up” by the time they got home.

His comments are the first by either of the pair since the pictures were taken as they were having dinner on the terrace of the restaurant.

The photographs appear to show the 70-year-old art collector leaning across the table with his hand around Lawson’s neck. She seemed to be grimacing and tearful as he held her neck four times, first with his left hand and then with both.

Onlookers were said to be shocked, saying Lawson appeared to be trying to pacify her husband, placing a hand on his left wrist and at one point kissing him on the cheek.

One witness said : “It was utterly shocking to watch. I have no doubt she was scared. She was very tearful and constantly dabbing her eyes. Nigella was very, very upset.”

A spokesperson for Scott’s said: “The staff at Scott’s are aware of the allegations in the media but did not see anything untoward happen within the restaurant. As this is now a police matter we cannot comment further.”

Lawson, 53, the daughter of former chancellor of the exchequer Nigel Lawson, was reportedly seen to be tearful as she left the restaurant on Sunday, June 9.

Yesterday Saatchi, the former advertising mogul, multi-millionaire art collector and columnist for the London Evening Standard newspaper said: “About a week ago, we were sitting outside a restaurant having an intense debate about the children, and I held Nigella’s neck repeatedly while attempting to emphasise my point.

“There was no grip, it was a playful tiff. The pictures are horrific but give a far more drastic and violent impression of what took place. Nigella’s tears were because we both hate arguing, not because she had been hurt.

“We had made up by the time we were home. The paparazzi were congregated outside our house after the story broke on Sunday morning, so I told Nigella to take the kids off till the dust settled.”

Lawson has no immediate plans to return home. Her agent declined to comment yesterday morning.