Barman cooks up trouble after leaving £1k in oven

A barman came under fire from staff and customers after he accidentally burnt £1,000 in the oven.

Martin Talbot, licensee of the Jolly Farmer in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, left Luke Woolston in charge of cashing up after reminding him to put the takings "some place safe."

Unaware the oven was still turned on at a low heat, Luke left the cash to smoulder there for an hour and a half and even texted Martin to let him know where he had left it.

When Martin returned home he smelled burning and turned the oven off before realising the night's takings were cooking away.

"As I walked up the stair I remembered his text and then suddenly it all clicked into place," he said.

A shocked Martin then rushed to open the oven to discover a pile of charred notes. But fortunately for hapless Luke, he saw the funny side.

"I texted him to say 'here is a tip; if you are going to hide money don't put it in a hot oven.'"

Luckily, the Bank of England has told Martin that because the serial number is still visible on most of the notes the value of the destroyed cash can be reclaimed.

"That was a relief. Otherwise I might not have been so forgiving," he said.

"I'm quite laid back so I thought I would tell customers about it so they could wind Luke up. That is punishment enough."

Customers have since embraced the opportunity to have a laugh at Luke's expense. When Martin gave out the charred notes they waved them in Luke's face asking him if they could buy him a drink.

According to Martin, Luke's misadventure has since become an ongoing joke with regulars suggesting fake menu items such as " profit less roles" for profiteroles, "bakers steak" and "chargrilled £10 pound notes" to make Luke squirm.

"We are now thinking of doing a list of the top 10 food puns," he added.