A village pub says a couple skipped their bill leaving them almost £150 out of pocket.

The supervisor of The George Inn in Meopham said the customers came in on Saturday afternoon and were ordering double gin and lemonades.

Jo Usher – who has worked there for three years – added: "She came in and the boyfriend was really drunk. He left a few times and came back in so I barred him.

"I tried to tap her card but it was not working and she told me her dad was coming down from London and would pay.

"She started being inappropriate with the other customers so I asked her to stay away from them. She started having a go and left without paying.

"Without thinking I ran after her. I followed her to the school [up the road]. I shoved her as she went to hit me. Her language was very colourful but she started screaming for help."

Jo said the couple were at the boozer for around three hours and racked up a tab of £138 – which is still unpaid.

She and another waitress went back out to find the couple but were unsuccessful. Jo also alleged the woman attacked a young girl who was passing by.

Jo said of the woman: "She came in and was very nice but then her story started to unravel. My instinct was to run after her to get her to pay."

She added that as the hospitality industry was still recovering after Covid it could be disappointing when incidents like this happen.

The George Inn was not the first establishment apparently hit in the village. Ian Eldridge, owner of Bartellas restaurant just a few hundred yards away, accused the same couple of running out on a £50 tab a few hours before.

"They had not booked and walked through the flower beds and came in through the back entrance," he said. "They had some drinks and two starters.

"When it came to pay the bill, the card did not go through. It was a sham. They went to Tesco to get some cash out but they did not come back.

"I was not there, otherwise I would not have let them go. When I got into work I found they had then gone up to The George Inn."

Ian said the couple left their number and he has contacted them with his bank details for them to pay back the money but has not received it yet.

"I just think it is wrong," he said. "They think they are untouchable and we have had enough. You do not go around in life doing that."

Officers confirmed they are investigating reports that a man and a woman left a restaurant in Wrotham Road, Meopham, without paying for items they had consumed on Saturday, September 24.

A police spokesman added: "It is further alleged that later the same day, the same woman also left a public house in Wrotham Road without paying and then assaulted two women and a teenage girl on leaving the premises.

"The victims were uninjured and inquiries into the incidents are under way."

Officers are urging anyone with information that to call 01474 366149, quoting crime reference 46/188199/22.