A FAMILY stepped in to save the day when they turned up at their local pub for Christmas dinner and discovered there was no chef.

The Hunt family headed for the pub to avoid slaving over a hot stove.

But in scenes reminiscent of an episode of the classic TV comedy Fawlty Towers called "Gourmet Night" they found themselves cooking for almost 40 hungry regulars.

The hit 1970s comedy featured John Cleese as a Torquay hotel owner who had to serve up food to his guests without a chef.

And Sean and Anne Hunt, of Bevan Place, Nelson, had to roll up their sleeves after turning up at the George and Dragon, Gisburn Road, Barrowford, on Christmas Day.

They wanted to spare Anne the chores of cooking and spend the day with daughter Anita, who was working as a waitress.

However, landlord Paul Jennings said he discovered his chef had left the kitchen on one of the busiest days of the year.

The whole family mucked in with Sean, 42, Anne, 41, son Andrew, 18, daughter Nicola, 19, sister Susan, 41, and family friends Kirsten and Andrew all lending a hand.

Sean said: "Because Anita was at work on Christmas Day we thought it would be nice to head down there so we could all spend the day as a family and it also meant no one had to cook - or so we thought.

"It didn't quite end up as we expected.

"When we arrived we sat down ready for a nice relaxing day, but it soon became clear something was up as Anita was getting quite flustered.

"I went to find out what was going on and she said the chef had disappeared. We had no choice but to help out really and we tried to do the best we could to avoid the day becoming a complete disaster.

"It was ironic as we went there to avoid cooking and ended up cooking for everyone else. We did get a free meal at the end of the day, though.

"I think a few people in the pub were a bit surprised at what was happening, but we tried to do the best we could to make sure everyone there got some food."

The Hunts enjoyed a slightly delayed Christmas meal, at home, yesterday, before heading off for a well-deserved New Year break.

Landlord Paul Jennings, 39, who has been at the George and Dragon for the last two-and-a-half years, said: "Christmas Day is one of our busiest times and when the chef turned up for work then disappeared it seemed to be turning into a complete nightmare.

"It was like something out of Fawlty Towers, but thankfully it turned out much better than with Basil Fawlty in charge. I have since spoken to the chef about it and he has been sacked because I believe he was drunk.

"Anita's family were absolutely great and saved the day becoming a total disaster. I do need to find a new chef now though."

The chef could not be contacted for comment.