A spokesman for the Frankie and Benny chain of restaurants has been forced to apologise after staff at the Swansea branch served a two-year-old boy whiskey instead of fruit juice. Sonny Reese began pulling faces and wriggling in his chair after glugging the 40 per cent proof sprit, though his parents eventually smelt the alcohol and approached restaurant staff.

According to the Daily Telegraph, the toddler was rushed to accident and emergency where he was kept under observation. His mother Nina, 34, said, "We went to the restaurant just after midday, and I had ordered him lime juice and water, his favourite.The drinks arrived and I was encouraging him to take sips because he was eating salty things.We had finished our first course when we noticed he was pulling a face as he was drinking.I took it from him and took a sip myself." Nina said her son had taken about 10 sips of the whiskey and was "obviously intoxicated." Perhaps most worryingly, the staff initially refused to believe Nina's story, "The reaction of staff at first was awful.They said it couldn't have happened and just went and got him some water and walked off. They more or less dismissed me," she said.

A Frankie and Benny's spokesman said: "The company is incredibly sorry for what happened.It was a human error and we are putting measures in place to ensure it never happens again." The restaurant gave the family a 50 per cent discount on their bill.