Australian bowled over by £55,000 fee for a ‘good’ beer

AN AUSTRALIAN cricket writer was charged £55,000 for a beer in a Manchester bar while covering the Ashes.

Peter Lalor, The Australian’s chief cricket reporter, ordered a half pint of Deuchars IPA from the Malmaison, a Manchester hotel often frequented by footballers, on Sunday ahead of the fourth Ashes Test match currently being played at Emirates Old Trafford.

After finishing the beer, which retails from £1.80 at supermarkets, Mr Lalor used his Visa card to pay for it – without putting on his reading glasses.

But when he asked the bar worker how much he had been charged, he learnt to his shock that 99,983.64 Australian Dollars (£55,300) had accidentally been withdrawn from his account

The beer itself received mixed reviews from Mr Lalor: “It is a good beer, but if you are thinking that no beer is worth the best part of 100,000 dollars, then I am inclined to agree with you.”

A Visa spokesman said: “This payment has clearly been taken in error and we welcome the fact that this has been addressed by the hotel and the cardholder’s bank.”