Pub owner ‘disgusted’ after customer put own hair in food to get a refund

A pub owner is fuming after refunding a customer who found hair in her food – only to realise she’d put her own hair on the plate.

The diner complained about her £12.95 roast beef dinner at the Observatory in Blackburn, Lancashire, saying she’d found a hair in her meal.

But when owner Tom Croft checked CCTV to make sure his staff’s hair was tied back, he realised the customer had done it herself to get herself a free meal.

The footage shows the customer whispering to the man she was with, before she pulls out a piece of her long, black hair and puts it on the half-empty plate.

Tom, 32, says the customer complained and ’caused at the scene’ at the bar – which is why she was given a full refund.

He said: ‘We reviewed the footage to see what had gone wrong, incase a member of staff didn’t have their hair tied back or whatever, but then we found the clip.

‘I was disgusted and angry – very angry.

‘There are people out there that are willing to put a business’ reputation and staff’s jobs at risks for a £12.95 meal.

‘The kitchen team could have then thought it was their fault, when they had done absolutely nothing wrong.’

The woman pulled a hair from her own head before putting it on the plate (Picture: SWNS)

She ’caused a scene’ and demanded a full refund (Picture: SWNS)

Tom Croft was furious when he checked CCTV (Picture: SWNS)

Tom, who’s co-owned the restaurant for five-and-a-half years, says he’s never seen anything like this before.

If he hadn’t watched the CCTV footage, he worries that his business’ reputation could have suffered.

Tom said: ‘We’ve not had anything happen like this before.

‘If we hadn’t found the CCTV footage, then our reputation would be a major concern and a big worry.

‘People don’t want to eat in places where you find hair in food.

‘We have a five star food hygiene rating and adhere to all the food safety guidelines.

‘But if we hadn’t found the CCTV footage, then it could have quite easily damaged our reputation.’

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Tom now wants to warn other business owners and is advising them to ‘keep their eyes out’ for other people who might pull a similar stunt.

He said: ‘I just want to obviously warn other businesses to keep being vigilant.

‘You need to keep your eyes out, not just for these two people but incidents of a similar nature.

‘There are people out there who are willing to chance this with another business.’

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‘I was disgusted and angry – very angry.’