(Image: PIZZA HOUSE)
A North Yorkshire takeaway owner continued delivering pizzas to customers despite road closures turning a journey of just over two miles into a 15-mile trip.
Yilmaz Ozturk, who runs Pizza House Easington, decided to continue taking orders from Staithes on Thursday, October 15, despite diversions adding almost 13 miles to the usual delivery route.
The normal journey between the takeaway and Staithes is approximately 2.4 miles, but the closures meant drivers faced a 15.2-mile journey to reach customers.
The road closures (Image: PIZZA HOUSE)
Despite the disruption, the business completed ten deliveries to Staithes that evening, alongside further deliveries to Hinderwell, where customers were also affected by diversions.
One customer reportedly contacted the takeaway to thank staff after finding their usual takeaway was unable to deliver because of the closures.
The decision has since attracted attention on social media, with two Facebook posts about the deliveries receiving approximately 35,000 views and 3,000 engagements between them in just a few days.
Delivering pizzas around the diversions (Image: PIZZA HOUSE)
The posts also prompted comments from residents sharing their own experiences of Mr Ozturk, who has run the family business in Easington for around ten years.
Originally from the Kurdish community in Turkey, Mr Ozturk has become a familiar face to customers in the village.
According to one resident, who has known him for almost eight years, his decision to continue delivering during the closures was typical of his approach to running the business.
She said: "Yilmaz doesn't appear to consider whether someone is a regular customer, how much they've spent or whether anyone is watching when he decides to do something kind.
"He simply does it."
She added that the takeaway owner recognises that, for some residents, particularly older people, those with disabilities or families with additional needs, access to a delivered hot meal can be particularly important.
The journey route that Yilmaz and his team travelled through (Image: PIZZA HOUSE)
Mr Ozturk has also raised his family in the area, with his son, Doğukan, growing up in Easington before going on to work as an NHS nurse and run a takeaway business of his own in Newcastle.
The resident, who first met Mr Ozturk after moving to the area while pregnant with her son, said she had witnessed numerous acts of kindness during the years she had known him.
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She said: "Over the years, I've come to feel like part of the family through the warmth and kindness they've shown me.
"And judging by the comments on our recent Facebook posts, I don't think I'm alone in feeling that way.
"In a time when small independent businesses face considerable pressures, I think there's something worth celebrating about someone who has spent so many years quietly making a positive difference to the people around him," she added.