Pub owner apologises and fires staff member after paying customers were wrongly accused of making £150 blunder at the till

Horse and Jockey has previously accused innocent diners of not paying
A staff member did not record their transaction in the cash register system

A pub landlord has apologised after an embarrassing mistake saw innocent diners wrongly charged for a £150 ‘dine and run’ escapade.

Since the mistake, bosses at the Horse and Jockey in Tideswell have apologised to the slandered diners and a member of staff has been sacked.

CCTV footage of the group of two men and two women was posted online after bar owners believed they had escaped after downing steaks, real ale and lager.

It now turns out that the group did indeed pay the bill in full, but a staff member forgot to run the transaction through the cash register.

Diners dined on two 10oz rib eye steaks for £27 with all the trimmings and two Derbyshire ham steaks for £15.25, washed down with several real ales and lagers.

The owner of the Horse and Jockey has since apologised to the innocent customers who the establishment accused of leaving the restaurant without paying their £150 bill.

Sam Watson, the manager of the establishment, revealed that a member of staff had failed to put the innocent customer’s payment (pictured) through the till system.

They were condemned by the pub in the heart of the Peak District National Park in Derbyshire and by online commentators for their “shocking behaviour”.

However, horses and jockeys manager Sam Watson said the truth about the matter had now been revealed.

He told MailOnline: ‘We want to offer our sincerest apologies to those involved as we have now learned that they did indeed pay for their meal.

“A staff member took the group’s order and a second staff member took payment, but did not complete the payment through the cash register system.

“That meant it looked like they had left without paying when in fact they had.

“There was no dishonesty on the part of our staff, it was an honest mistake, but we have dismissed the staff member responsible for the error.

“The people concerned have contacted the pub. I haven’t spoken to them yet, but when I do I will apologise for our mistake.”

Mr Waston said there was “no dishonesty” on the part of his staff in the embarrassing blunder.

“The people involved have made contact with the pub. I haven’t spoken to them yet but when I do I will apologise for our mistake,” he said.