Pub landlord apologises and sacks member of staff after customers who paid their bill were wrongly accused of being £150 'dine and dashers' in blunder

A pub landlord has apologised after an embarrassing blunder saw innocent diners wrongly accused of a £150 'dine and dash' escapade.

Since the error, bosses at the Horse and Jockey in Tideswell have issued an apology to the maligned diners and a member of staff being dismissed.

CCTV images of the group of two men and two women were posted online after bosses at the boozer believed they had slipped away after guzzling steaks, real ale and lager.

However it has now emerged that in fact the group did pay the bill in full but a member of staff forgot to ring the transaction through the till.

The diners ate two £27 10oz ribeye steaks with all the trimmings and two £15.25 Derbyshire gammon steaks, washing it all down with several real ales and lagers.

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

However Horse and Jockey manager Sam Watson said the truth of the matter has now been revealed.

He told MailOnline: 'We want to sincerely apologise to the people involved because we have now learnt that they did in fact pay for their meal.

'One member of staff took the group's order and a second member of staff took payment, however he did not run the payment through the till system.

'It meant that it looked as though they had left without paying when they had.

'There was no dishonesty involved from our staff, it was an honest mistake but we have dismissed the member of staff responsible for the error.

'The people involved have been in touch with the pub. I'm yet to speak to them but when I do I will apologise for our mistake.'