Never miss a thing from Belfast and beyond - sign up for FREE updates direct to your email inbox Subscribe Thank you for subscribing See our privacy notice Invalid Email

A woman who tried to pay for a snack with a Northern Ireland bank note in England, says she was quizzed by police and security.

She said she tried to use the £10 note at All Bar One in Birmingham Airport and was told it was not legal tender.

She said: "I pointed out that it says 'sterling' on the note and legally they have to accept it. They called security on me because I've tried to pay the bill with my Northern Ireland £10 sterling note. Welcome To Birmingham airport.

"The manager said they only accept the plastic notes now.

The police were called and came in in full gear and stood beside the register the whole time I was there.

"I had been in the restaurant having breakfast and there were no police there - they came in after the manager told me she was calling security.

"I thought I was going to be arrested for daring to eat in their restaurant and paying with Northern Ireland sterling.

"It was a terrible experience - first time I had the police and security quizzing me. I finally got out when the security manager said they had to accept it and the airport would vouch for the validly of my 'legal' tender."

A spokesman for All Bar One, said: "We've spoken to the team at the bar and the security team at Birmingham Airport who've informed us the police weren’t actually called to All Bar One, they were already in the bar having a drink and just wanted to check to see if everything was okay.

"We would like to make clear though that this was very much a misunderstanding on behalf of the team member and they didn't mean to cause any offence.

"We would like to apologise for any offence caused to the guest. This was a misunderstanding which was soon rectified.

"We hold specific training for our staff working at the airport and we value all feedback from our guests. We will be retraining our team to make sure something like this doesn't happen again."

The customer told Belfast Live: "The police were not in the restaurant eating or drinking. They were called. They never sat down and did not eat or drink anything."

The said they company hope to speak with the customer to make an apology directly to her.

Keep up-to-date with all the very latest news, what's on, sport and everything else in Belfast and beyond with the Belfast Live app.

Only select news that interests you by picking the topics you want to display on the app's homepage. Plus, our enhanced user experience includes live blogs, video, interactive maps and slick picture galleries. Download it now and get involved.

Click here to get it from the App Store or here for Google Play .