IT was the proud boast of a national pub chain - you would get your money back if your meal wasn't served within 15 minutes.

But when a customer demanded a refund after waiting too long, staff argued that the guarantee did not apply when the pub was busy.

That led yesterday to Yates's Wine Lodge being ordered by magistrates to pay more than £2,000 for being six minutes over the deadline in producing a £3.50 cheeseburger.

The company admitted breaching the Trading Standards law.

Teesside magistrates heard how Yates's pubs offered the money-back guarantee during weekday lunches and advertised their claim on menus and posters.

But a member of the public who visited the Middlesbrough branch complained that when her meal was late, the staff refused to refund the money, claiming the offer "doesn't apply when we are busy".

Trading Standards officer Kath Hierons then visited the pub in Middlesbrough and ordered a cheeseburger while two colleagues ordered a beef sandwich and a cheese and bacon baguette.

Angela Grey, prosecuting, told how the food took 21 minutes to arrive, but when the officers asked for their money back they were refused.

"The assistant manager was then cautioned and he said there had been a number of complaints that day. He said they sometimes put up a blackboard notice suspending the offer during busy periods, but on this day that had not happened."

Company secretary Andrew Cooper told magistrates: "We are very embarrassed to be standing before you. Yates's was formed in 1884. It is the oldest pub chain in the country and this is the first proceedings brought against it under the Trade Descriptions Act."

The company has now withdrawn the 15-minute guarantee. It was fined £1,500 and ordered to pay prosecution costs of £539.68.

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