London, Sep 13 (IANS): A British court has sentenced an Indian restaurant owner to 22 months in prison for sexually assaulting waitresses as they tried out for jobs, a media report said.

The Warwick Crown Court on Friday found Prashant Sengar, 40, the owner of "Spicy Affair" restaurant in Warwicksire's Leamington Spa, guilty of seven charges of sexual assault, Daily Mail online reported.

He groped two of his six female victims while they were interviewing for jobs and also made unwanted advances towards existing female staff and tried to kiss them at the end of their shifts.

Prosecutor Lee Marklew told the court that Sengar, who is married, asked his victims if they were single and if they were prepared to "flirt and mess around".

Sengar denied all the charges levelled against him and accused his victims of lying. But the jury dismissed his claims and found him unanimously guilty following a six-day trial.

Judge Andrew Lockhart QC ordered to register him as a sex offender for 10 years.