Diner handed £250,000 bill at Cote

A financial advisor was accidentally given a bill of over £250,000 for a two-course meal with her son.

Pretima Champaneri-Phillips, 52, only realised she had been charged the sky-high amount after entering her PIN and being presented with the receipt, according to the Evening Standard.

The problem arose after she ordered soup followed by coq au vin, while her son had eggs benedict and a steak. The bill with drinks and service should have been £26.83 but ended up as £268,399.

The waitress quickly corrected the error and the transaction was cancelled.

Ms Champaneri-Phillips told the Standard: "I should think it was the most expensive meal I have ever had in my life. It was good, but not that good!

"I'm surprised they were allowed to have so many digits entered without alarms bells going off. It just shows how important it is to check your bill at the end of your meal."

A Cote spokesman said: "We do apologise. Luckily the lady noticed so it was cancelled. Even if she had pressed enter, that amount would never have gone through."