A CHEF accused of deserting his kitchen in the middle of the Christmas Day rush today insisted: "I wasn't drunk!"

Michael Docherty, 49, cook at the George and Dragon in Barrowford, was sacked by landlord Paul Jennings who believed he had abandoned his post after drinking.

But the chef, who had worked at the pub for three-and-a-half months on a self-employed basis, said all he had to drink was a glass of sherry and had slipped over and cut his head as he prepared the Christmas dinners.

He said he then spent the rest of the day at Burnley General, where he was treated for his injury.

The Christmas Day dinners were saved after the Hunt family from Nelson, who had headed for the pub to avoid slaving over a hot stove, stepped in and cooked for almost 40 hungry regulars.

Scenes were said to be reminiscent of an episode of the classic TV comedy Fawlty Towers called "Gourmet Night" where Torquay Hotel owner John Cleese had to serve up food to his guests without a chef.

Sean and Anne Hunt, of Bevan Place, found themselves cooking for the diners at the pub.

Michael, of Kelbrook Road, Barnoldswick said: "I got into work early to start work on the food and had been preparing that all morning. I certainly hadn't been drinking much, but I must have slipped over and banged my head.

"I must have blacked out and when I came to Paul asked me if I had been drinking. I said I hadn't but he told me to go and not bother coming back. I assumed he meant for the rest of the day, but he obviously meant don't come back at all."

Landlord Paul Jennings, 39, who has been at the George and Dragon for the last two-and-a-half years, said he was now looking for a new chef. He added: "I don't care what he says, I believe he was drunk and at lunchtime on Christmas day I had 40 people sat in my pub without any dinner - that is the bottom line." A spokesman for Lancashire Ambulance Service said a male who had suffered a head injury after a fall was taken to hospital.