BRITAIN’S “strictest landlord” has defended his decision to charge customers extra for not finishing their meals.

Mark Graham, 62, has owned and run The Star Inn pub in the tiny hamlet of Vogue, Cornwall, for the last 27 years.

8

8

Advertisement

8

8

He hit back at a customer who tried to shame him online after they were charged an extra £2.40 because they piled their plates high at the £12 all-you-can-eat carvery – but ate barely any.

Verity Farmer, who shared her experience on Facebook, said: “Just been for a Sunday carvery at The Star Inn, Vogue, St Day.

“We paid for our meal at £12 each, and when we got our bill it had got an extra £4.80 added.

“When questioned about it they said it was a charge for not eating all our meal. I’ve never heard anything like that before.”

Her post prompted nearly 400 comments in less than 24 hours, with The Star Inn’s social media page among those replying.

It said: “We just try and make sure there is enough food for everyone.

“I’m sure if you were a customer later on in the day and I had to tell you I had no food left for your booking because it had all been wasted and gone in the bin you would not be very happy and would have made another social media post too.”

Now Mark – a former tin miner who also served in the Royal Navy – has defended the policy, which is outlined in notices inside the eatery.

He says it is the first time in 20 years he has enforced the rule – and only did so after the two diners told him they had enjoyed the meal.

Mark shared a photo of the leftover food on social media and insisted the nominal charge would only cover the raw ingredients they left but not the equipment, staff or energy.

He said: “I’m not strict but I’m a straight talking Cornish landlord. Ask anybody who comes in for a meal, I’m an easy-going Cornish boy. I tell people ‘fill your boots, have as much as you like, as long as you eat it’.

“When young children come in with their parents we say don’t buy them a meal, we give them an empty plate and say share some of yours and come up if you want more, as long as you eat it.

“We keep it at £12 for a large or £8 for a small because we are a local village pub trying to help the community, we use a local butcher and greengrocer.

“We do as much as we can to keep our prices down but if everybody behaved like these ladies I’d have to put the prices up.

“I think the ladies wanted to shame me because they have been charged, to be honest I think they are just entitled people who believed they would get all the support.

“They tried to say they had only left a few potatoes so they weren’t completely truthful.

8

8

Advertisement

“People on Facebook were saying why not just put the prices up and let people leave what they want, well I keep the price down low for everybody and I’m not going to change that for a few idiots.”

Mark said the pub has deep ties with the local area, hosting the community library, installing floodlights in his field so the village football team can train for free, and hosting 20 different groups from a knitting circle to a motorcycle club.

He said: “We’re a little family run village pub and we want to keep everybody happy, the pub is the hub of this community.

“It’s hugely frustrating because it’s all you can eat, with a normal meal we’ll give you boxes and doggy bags because it’s your food, you’ve paid for it and you can take it away.

“With all you can eat the margins are very fine, if everybody piled two meals on a plate and threw one away by the time the later people came in all the food is in the bin because it’s been wasted, it all goes downhill from there.”

Mark was also backed by locals including pensioner John Tozer, 79, who has been a regular at the pub for 40 years.

He said: “He’s a brilliant landlord, I think he was absolutely in the right to charge those ladies.

“You see people pile up their plates like Mount Everest then they can’t eat it, then at the end of the day people come in and there isn’t any left because of other people’s greed. It bloody annoys me.”

Mark and his pub have previously hit the headlines after fashion giant Vogue threatened to sue him.

Condé Nast, the owner of Vogue magazine, sent a ‘cease and desist’ letter ordering him to stop using the name ‘Vogue’ as it is their name – even though the pub is more than 200 years old and the village is older still.

The publishing giant later backed down and apologised, admitting it didn’t do its homework.

8

Advertisement

8

MCDONALD’S is launching a new lunch and dinnertime meal deal offering customers four menu items for just £5.

Fast food fans will be able to save almost £2.50 when the deal is unveiled in restaurants tomorrow (October 9).

1

Customers can choose from two different burgers, a medium drink, fries and four chicken McNuggets normally costing £7.46.

The offer will be available in restaurants from 11am, after the breakfast menu is switched for the main one.

However, fast food fans won’t be able to order from the comfort of their home as the new deal isn’t available for delivery.

Plus, not all restaurants are running the offer so there is no guarantee you’ll be able to snap up the discounted items.

This is the full list of items included in the meal deal and how much they cost individually:

• Cheeseburger – £1.39
• Mayo Chicken – £1.39
• Medium Carbonated Soft Drink – £1.59
• Medium Fries – £1.69
• Four Chicken McNuggets – £2.79 (based on a pro-rata of the price for six Chicken McNuggets)

Bear in mind, the price of all the above items may vary from restaurant to restaurant.

We have also asked McDonald’s if the £5 meal deal is a permanent offer and for the list of restaurants not offering it and will update this story when we have heard back.

How does the £5 meal deal compare to other chains?

McDonald’s latest offer might seem like the perfect way to save a bit of money on your lunch break, but is it the cheapest?

We’ve listed off a few other retailers and fast food chains’ offerings which are actually cheaper.

The below offers aren’t offering the same options as McDonald’s, but do offer some alternatives if you’re looking to spend a bit less.

Tesco‘s meal deal comes with a main, including sandwiches and pasta pots, snack and drink for £4 for regular customers and £3.60 for Clubcard holders.

Meanwhile, Sainsbury’s meal deal costs £3.50 and comes with the same trio of items.

Pharmacy chain Boots‘ meal deal also comes with a main, snack and drink and costs from £3.99. Londoners have to pay £4.99.

In terms of fast food chains, Domino’s launched a £4 lunchtime meal deal in April that’s available seven days a week.

The offer lets customers choose from small pizzas, hot and cheesy wraps and chicken strips.

Greggs also has a meal deal where customers can snap up a pizza slice and regular hot or cold drink for £3.50 before 4pm seven days a week.

After 4pm and the price drops to £2.85 – nearly 20% cheaper.

OTHER MCDONALD’S NEWS

McDonald’s customers are in for a busy October, with the fast food chain already having confirmed a new breakfast item is making its way onto menus.

From October 16, foodies will be able to get their hands on mini hashbrowns in a portion of five or 15, with prices starting from £1.49.

McDonald’s already sells regular-sized hashbrowns for £1.19 but these are bitesized.

Many customers have already taken to social media saying the product reminds them of Tater Tots – a popular side dish in America.

It is still unclear whether or not the morning snack will become a permanent menu item or will only be available for a limited period.

Meanwhile, the iconic McRib burger is back on menus from the same date after a nearly 10-year hiatus, with reporter Sam Walker getting a try before its launch.

Anyone looking to snap up the returning pork-based burger will have to be quick though as it is back for a limited time only.

Do you have a money problem that needs sorting? Get in touch by emailing money-sm@news.co.uk.

Plus, you can join our Sun Money Chats and Tips Facebook group to share your tips and stories

Believe it or not, we’ll soon be turning our attention to 2025 – and it might be a year for advisers to take particular notice of.

If estimates from The Centre of Economics and Business Research are correct, women will hold 60% of the UK’s wealth from next year. That’s a hefty amount.

As women’s wealth grows, the hope would be they increasingly look to seek professional advice on how best to manage it.

Of course, some will have been responsible for their own wealth creation and may already be benefitting from the peace of mind that comes with advice.

It probably was never the intention to exclude the client’s wife. But it’s hard to win someone’s trust if they haven’t felt included

These women are on track to achieve their financial goals. They know how to navigate their savings and investments, they adequately contribute to their pension and they are well placed to ensure their money keeps working for them so they can have a fulfilling retirement.

And as long as they feel they can trust their adviser, they probably don’t mind whether that person is a man or a woman.

Let’s face it, as female advisers account for just 16% of the total market, it’s more than likely their adviser is male.

There is a real opportunity to address this gender imbalance and make advice and the wider financial services sector more appealing as career options.

There is already great work being done in this area. Small changes can have a big impact.

While more women will have the money in their hands, others will still be facing a pension shortfall compared to their male counterparts

Wouldn’t it be a great result if having more female advisers leads to more women seeking advice?

For some women, next year may be their first time being fully responsible for their financial situation, especially if control of the money passes to them after the death of a spouse.

This is how a large proportion of wealth is expected to transfer. If the husband had an adviser (and I say ‘if’, as figures suggest only 8% of all UK adults have received financial advice), will the widow decide to continue with the professional relationship?

Much of that is likely to depend on how involved she was in the process previously. If the adviser didn’t do much to actively engage with her before her husband died, she may feel it’s too late now.

If she doesn’t feel comfortable to ask questions without fear of judgement because she hasn’t properly been part of the equation and hasn’t been seen as an individual, it could mean assets walking out the door.

Research from The Lang Cat reveals more women feel greater uncertainty about how and where to find a good adviser

That’s not to say the adviser wouldn’t be perfectly happy to explain things in a clear way with empathy. It probably was never the intention to exclude the client’s wife. But it’s hard to win someone’s trust if they haven’t felt included.

They are also likely to be in a vulnerable position. They might need to take a bit of time to work out what’s best for them and their family.

When it comes to taking advice in the first place, research from The Lang Cat’s Advice Gap 2024 report reveals more women feel greater uncertainty about how and where to find a good adviser.

Could more be done to promote the values of advice? Should firms look at how they market themselves to ensure they are appealing to a wider demographic?

Now, I’ve seen plenty of arguments for and against advice firms having a strategy to attract and retain female clients.

Things are improving but the very fact we still have a gender pay gap and a gender pensions gap shows more still needs to be done

On the one hand, women are no different to male clients, so why would they need to be treated differently? On the other, some may want to feel valued in their own right. Perhaps they consider their situation to require an alternative approach.

Could part of the problem be that, while women may not need to be treated differently as such, they haven’t been treated the same?

While more women will have the money in their hands, others will still be facing a pension shortfall compared to their male counterparts.

Things are improving but the very fact we still have a gender pay gap and a gender pensions gap shows more still needs to be done.

There are also more women than men who have no private pension wealth at all. Indeed, the Financial Conduct Authority’s latest Financial Lives Survey found more women than men are struggling to cope financially.

The under-representation of women in financial services is a cause for concern and the same is true for female investors. If one improves, the other could follow

Elsewhere, studies have suggested women can be more risk adverse when investing. And, on average, with women living longer, there are clearly a few factors at play which puts them in a tricky situation and could see some struggle in retirement.

Some women will undoubtedly feel more inclined to speak to another woman – someone who has shared similar experiences to them.

It’s not necessarily the case women have more empathy. Many advisers are able to support their clients because they use their soft skills alongside their technical knowledge.

But the under-representation of women in financial services is a cause for concern and the same is true for female investors.

If one improves, the other could follow.

Laura Barnes is director of business development at Nucleus

A PEOPLE’S Postcode Lottery winner nearly missed out on collecting his £111,000 prize.

Michael Whitaker, from Keighley in West Yorkshire, had to beg his boss for the day off – and colleagues weren’t impressed.

3

3

Advertisement

The self-confessed adrenaline junkie rang up his boss to ask for the day off so he could be given the huge cheque.

She was forced to lie to her staff who were expecting to see Michael in an 11am meeting.

He said: “I rang my boss and told her Postcode Lottery are here. But I had a design and compliance finance meeting at 11am and I had all the figures.

“Luckily, my boss was ecstatic for me and said she wouldn’t tell anyone in the meeting as to why I couldn’t make it.”

Michael joined others on his street in bagging £111,111, which he hopes to use towards a “once-in-a-lifetime” tour around the Norweigan Fjords.

Michael, who has scuba dived all around the country, said he was astounded when he received the cheque.

“When I saw the cheque, I thought £11,000 and then… I processed it and there was six digits! It’s incredible,” he said.

When asked what he was going to do with all of the extra money he said he dreamt of taking his new motorbike, a Triumph Tiger 900, on a road trip.

“I’ve got to an age where I want to see more, and I recently bought the motorbike to go adventure riding.

“I’d love to go to Norway and Sweden. Just go and not have anywhere booked and see where I end up.

“I’ve done a lot of things and seen a lot of things that nobody’s seen, and I want to carry on doing that and push myself more,” he said.

He added: “You have dreams but they’re not dreams anymore now. This brings them into reality.”

The clerk landed the massive cash prize along with eight of his neighbours in Shann Crescent, Keighly, after their postcode BD21 2TN landed the weekly Millionaire Street prize on Monday.

Every cheque was worth £111,111.

Across the road, Sanna Babar, who also cashed in the six-figure sum, said she is now planning a trip to Walt Disney World in Florida for her two daughters.

She said: “We were thinking of going to Disneyland Paris in August next year, but it could be Florida now!”

“I was trying to save up money, but I don’t need to do that now and I could bring my mum and dad too. It was a sort of fantasy before, but I’m going to do it,” she added.

3

SAVVY shoppers can scoop bargain deals today and tomorrow as Amazon slashes prices on thousands of items for its Prime Big Deal Days.

The 48-hour sale started today and lasts until midnight on Wednesday.

8

Prime Day deals are exclusive to Amazon Prime members. This service costs £95 a year and offers free next-day delivery as part of the perks, but you can use the 30-day free trial if you’ve never joined before.

Ahead of the shopping event, Amazon this week also expanded its same-day delivery, which is now available for millions of products in 81 towns and cities across the UK.

Aberdeen, Middlesbrough, and Plymouth are the most recent locations that have been added.

I’ve scoured through the deals and rooted out some of the best ones on offer that I can find.

But, if there are particular items that you have your eye on, you can also create deal alerts. You’ll then receive a notification on price changes on any items you’ve subscribed to.

Before you buy anything in the sale, it’s always a good idea to check if it’s the best value you can get.

Use a price comparison site such as Idealo.co.uk to check whether the price on Amazon is best or if you can get it cheaper elsewhere.

There are also specific Amazon price-tracking websites, bobalob.com and camelcamelcamel.com, will show you what price items ­have previously sold for on the site, so you can check whether the discounts offered during Prime Days are as good as they seem.

Here are some of the best deals on offer…

WHAT TO BUY

Electricals

You can score some serious savings on big-ticket electricals and tech items during Amazon Prime Days.

Pick-up a pair of Beats Studio3 Wireless Noise Cancelling Over-Ear Headphones, reduced to £139 from £349.95.

The Google Pixel 8a – Unlocked Android smartphone is down from £499 to £399.

You can also grab the Samsung CU7020 Crystal UHD 4K 55″ Smart TV with a RRP of £505 down to £369.

8

Kitchen gadgets

If you’ve been wanting to jump on the airfryer trend, now could be your moment with the Tower T17088 Vortx 9L Dual Basket Air Fryer is down from £139.99 to £78.

The Ninja perfect temperature kettle has loads of clever settings for making a top brew and, is down from £99.99 to £67.99.

Or treat yourself to a bean to cup coffee machine with the De’longhi ECAM22.110.B down from £349 to £279.

8

Lego

You can always pick up some great deals on Lego during Prime Days and this time round is no different.

There are price reductions on sets for adults, with the Harry Potter Hogwarts Castle and Grounds set down from £149.99 to £106.39.

Or for younger fans, the LEGO Minecraft Skeleton Dungeon Set is down from £24.99 to £17.89 – I’ll definitely be picking one of these up as a Christmas present for my son.

8

Advertisement

Amazon Prime Day: Our 10 best deals

Amazon Prime Day runs until midnight on Wednesday (9th October). Here’s our pick of the best deals for Prime subscribers.

*If you click on a link in this boxout we will earn affiliate revenue

1. Amazon Fire TV Stick, £16.99 (was £44.99) – buy here
2. Xinwld Wireless Earbuds, £24.99 (was £99.99) – buy here
3. Apple AirPods Pro (2nd generation), £179 (was £229) – buy here
4. 43-inch 4-Series Fire TV, £229.99 (was £429.99) – buy here
5. Ring Battery Video Doorbell, £59.99 (£99.99) – buy here
6. Ninja Foodi MAX Air Fryer, £159.99 (was £239.99) – buy here
7. Maybelline Lash Sensational Mascara, £7.79 (was £12.99) – buy here
8. Silentnight Comfort Control Electric Blanket, £35.99 (was £42.99) – buy here
9. COSRX Advanced Snail 96 Mucin Skin Serum, £12.15 (was £23.99) – buy here
10. Olay Regenerist Collagen Peptide 24 Eye Cream Without Fragrance, £17.33 (was £38) – buy here

We’ll be keeping a close eye out for some of the best deals so remember to check back to snag these deals

We’ve rounded up more great offers here:

Advertisement

Beauty

The Prime Big Deal days are a great opportunity to stock up on skincare and makeup favourites.

The INKEY List 2% Hyaluronic Acid Hydrating Serum is down from £7.99 to £5.94.

Or bag Maybelline New York Lash Sensational Sky High Mascara for £5.99, down from £12.99

Cera Ve fans will also be pleased to see discounts on some items, with the Facial Moisturising Lotion SPF50 down from £16.50 to £12.29.

8

Kids’ toys

Christmas is looming, but you can use Prime Days to get some big savings on kids’ gifts and you’ll also feel pretty smug when your shopping is all wrapped come December.

If you’ve got kids, you can’t go wrong with a pack of colouring pens and some paper for ten minutes of peace.

A pack of 24 Crayola SuperTips Washable Markers is down from £9.25 to a bargain £5 in the sale.

Play-doh pots are great for stocking fillers. A 24-pack is down from £16.37 to £10.79.

Or the Melissa & Doug Wooden Ice Cream Toy Shop is a total winner with little ones and down from £49.99 to £24.84.

8

Christmas gifts for adults

For adults, there is up to 30% off selected styles from Pepe Jeans, Boss, Levi and Tommy Hilfiger during the event.

There are also savings to be made on luxury kitchenware from Le Creuset, with its Signature Enamelled Cast Iron Round Casserole Dish down from £339 to £196.99.

Or, Swarovski women’s Stud Earrings are down from £65 to £27.

And an all-round crowd pleaser is the Hotel Chocolat Everything Sleekster box featuring 27 favourite chocs from the brand and is down from.

8

Everyday essentials

It’s not just big-ticket items included in the Amazon promotion. You can get some great deals on everyday essentials.

An 18-roll pack of by Amazon Toilet Roll is down to £6.49.

Or stock up for your furry friends with Whiskas Tasty Mix 1+Chef´s Choice in Gravy 40 x 85 g Pouches down to £12.50.

Plus, two packs of 60-tablet Fairy Non-Bio Platinum PODS are down from £36 to £24.55.

8

THE Wetherspoons 12-day beer festival will be back with a bang tomorrow with some ales selling for less than £2 a pint.

The famous pub chain will be selling a range of 30 different real ales including five from overseas brewers from October 9 to October 20.

1

The festival will offer punters the chance to sample beers from Canada, New Zealand, Japan and the USA.

The event will take place across 809 UK Wetherspoons pubs.

Pints will be available for £2.29 on average, and as cheap as £1.79.

Spoon fans can try three beers for the price of one, with the chance to buy 3 third-of-a-pint tasters for the cost of a single pint.

The menu includes a range of unusual flavoured ales such as mango, chocolate and banoffee pie.

And the festival range is extended to include vegan and vegetarian options, as well as gluten-free options which can be found using the allergen information screen in pubs or via the app or website.

The deal includes beers which have never been available in Wetherspoons before so you are guaranteed to try something new.

Marketing manager Jen Swindells said: “The festival is a great celebration of real ale.

“It will allow us to showcase a selection of superb beers, including those from brewers as far afield as Japan and New Zealand, as well as those closer to home, over a 12-day period.

“All of the beers will be available at great value-for-money prices.”

While the pints could be selling for as cheap as £1.79 in some pubs, keep in mind that menu prices vary based on location.

Below is a full list of real ales which will be available at the festival:

• Siren Mesmerist (Siren Craft Brew) 3.4% ABV
• Conwy Born to be Mild (Conwy Brewery) 3.8% ABV
• Hogs Back Notorious P.I.G (Hogs Back Brewery) 3.8% ABV
• Adnams T Drop (Adnams Brewery) 4.0% ABV
• Red Racer Session (Central City Brewery, British Colombia, Canada) 4.0% ABV
• Windsor and Eton Canberra (Windsor and Eton Brewery) 4.0% ABV
• Batemans Salem Session IPA (Batemans Brewery) 4.1% ABV
• Hook Norton Tower Ale (Hook Norton Brewery) 4.2% ABV
• Townshend Dinner Ale (Townshend Brewery, Tasman, New Zealand) 4.2% ABV
• Ishii Orihime Pale Ale (Ishii Brewing, Tochigi, Japan) 4.3% ABV
• Evan Evans Wild Coast (Evan Evans Brewery) 4.4% ABV
• Fyne Ales Sun Lounger (Fyne Ales) 4.4% ABV
• Greene King Blood Hound (Greene King Brewery) 4.4% ABV
• Loch Lomond The Gloaming (Loch Lomond Brewery) 4.4% ABV
• Brewster’s Sailing By (Brewster’s Brewery) 4.5% ABV
• Rudgate Mango in the Night (Rudgate Brewery) 4.5% ABV
• Maxim Banoffee Pie Golden Ale (Maxim Brewery) 4.6% ABV
• Titanic Sapphire Spoon (Titanic Brewery) 4.7% ABV
• Lancaster Hop Storm (Lancaster Brewery) 4.8% ABV
• St Austell Fresh Pot (St Austell Brewery) 4.8% ABV
• Elgood’s North Brink Porter (Elgood’s Brewery) 5.0% ABV
• Exmoor Phoenix (Exmoor Ales) 5.0% ABV
• Shepherd Neame Cold Snap (Shepherd Neame Brewery) 5.0% ABV
• Thornbridge Coltrane (Thornbridge Brewery) 5.0% ABV
• Urban South Who Dat (Urban South Brewery, Louisiana, USA) 5.0% ABV
• Salopian Disintegration (Salopian Brewery) 5.1% ABV
• Oakham Sunset (Oakham Ales) 5.3% ABV
• Yazoo All Dog Alert (Yazoo Brewing, Tennessee, USA) 5.5% ABV
• Burning Sky Aurora (Burning Sky Brewery) 5.6% ABV
• Innis and Gunn Caribbean Rum Cask (Innis and Gunn Brewery) 6.8% ABV

Order your pint of choosing either at the bar or via the mobile app, which is available to download via the App Store.

We recommend you browse the festival magazine before your arrival via the app or website to check your local prices.

The magazine also details the origins of the beers and their flavour profiles.

For example, the Japanese Ishii “Orihime” Pale Ale is from Tochigi, and has a “citrusy, fruity hop character”.

And the Canadian Central City “Red Racer” Amber Ale is from British Colombia and has “a good balance of bitterness and malt flavours”.

While the mysterious Maxim “Banoffee Pie” Golden Ale is from Durham, and is described as “dessert in a glass”.

Do you have a money problem that needs sorting? Get in touch by emailing money-sm@news.co.uk.

Plus, you can join our Sun Money Chats and Tips Facebook group to share your tips and stories