Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver has urged people to be wary of “lorryloads of luxury cheese” being sold “cheaply” after more than 22 tonnes of cheddar were stolen from cheese specialist Neal’s Yard Dairy in London.

950 pieces of cloth-covered cheese worth more than £300,000 were sent to fraudsters posing as legitimate wholesalers for a major French retailer. Before they were discovered to be a fake company.

In his post on Instagram, Oliver told his followers: “There was a big cheese robbery. Some of the best cheddar cheese in the world was stolen.”

He called it “a real shame” and added: “If anyone hears that luxury cheese is going for cheap, it’s probably some mistake.”

He continued: “I really don’t know what they’re going to do with it.

“Are they going to take it out of the fabric and cut it up and grate it and throw it away in the fast food industry or the commercial industry? I don’t know; it just seems like a really weird thing to waste.”

Hundreds of trucks of cheese consisted of three specialty cheddars (Hafod Welsh, Westcombe and Pitchfork), all award-winning and high monetary value.

Neal’s Yard Dairy sells Hafod Welsh for £12.90 for a 300g piece, while Westcombe has it for £7.15 for a 250g piece and Pitchfork has it for £11 for a 250g piece.

The firm said it was still paying cheese makers so dairies did not have to bear the costs and was working with police to identify the perpetrators.

A spokesman said the company was currently trying to cope with the financial disruption.

The company has also appealed to cheesemongers around the world to contact them if they suspect stolen cheese is being sold, particularly 10kg or 24kg of fabric-covered cheddar with the labels removed.

In a statement, the Metropolitan Police said: “We received a report of a large quantity of cheese being stolen from a Southwark-based producer on Monday.

“Investigations into the situation are ongoing.”

Police said no arrests have been made in connection with the alleged theft.