Couple left 'gobsmacked' with wife 'in tears' after being handed food bill for 50th wedding anniversary meal

A couple were left 'gobsmacked' with a woman 'in tears' after they were handed their bill after a meal out to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary.

Paul and Dawn Molineux, from Southport, met when they were just 14 and 16 on a blind date and decided to venture out to Hickory's Smokehouse to celebrate almost 50 years of marriage.

Their anniversary falls at the end of the month (August 29) but with a big party planned for then, the couple decided to celebrate with a meal for two and were greeted by a written sign on arrival, reports the ECHO.

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They were shown their seats by manager James Davies who spoke to the couple about their anniversary and about how they met, as well as the terminal cancer Paul was diagnosed with in January.

Then later on when they came to pay their bill, the couple were left 'gobsmacked' when they discovered the meal had been paid for by the restaurant along with a note wishing them a 'happy anniversary', with Dawn almost reduced to tears.

Paul, 68, said: "We went to Hickory's in Southport for a 50th wedding anniversary meal. When you book the table they asked if it was something special, so we put down that it was our anniversary.

"When they seated us they had put down a sign celebrating our anniversary. Our waiter James asked us about our anniversary, and asked us when we began dating and about our life together. In the end we told him that I've got terminal cancer.

"When he put the bill down we opened it and it said happy anniversary, the bill is on us. It was an 80 quid bill too. I just saw the look on my wife's face from across the table and thought have they got this wrong? She more or less