An Australian man has been charged nearly $100,000 for a single beer in a Manchester pub.

Peter Lalor, a cricket writer for The Australian on tour covering the Ashes, told of his surprise and frustration on Twitter as he now faces a wait to replenish the funds.

Lalor said he didn't ask the bar attendant how much the beer cost until after he had finished paying for it.

"She checked, covered her mouth, started to giggle and refused to tell me, saying only there had been a mistake and she would fix it," Lalor tweeted.

"She kept giggling, I told her it needed to be fixed and fixed right now. She ran to get her manager, who took the situation far more seriously and went about attempting to arrange a refund. She told me somebody would be in contact.

"Three days later, I'm still waiting."

Lalor said he eventually received a call from his bank back home in Australia telling him a sum of $99,983.64 — as well as a $2,499.59 transaction fee — had been removed from his account.

"It really is baffling that both Visa and our bank would allow such an amount to go through unquestioned," he said.

"And, guess what? They agree that there is a refund in the system but it will take nine working days for it to go through."

Lalor said that the mistake has left a "massive hole in my finances".

He said the hotel — the Malmaison in Manchester — had been in contact to apologise and help remedy the situation.