IT IS a strange restaurant that hands you a bill before you receive your food, unless the food is arriving in a polystyrene container.

But it’s an even stranger restaurant whose customer service policy appears to be a watchword for confusion and inconsistency.

Pizza Hut strongly deny that their duty manager’s decision to make a group of black professional footballers pay up front for their meals was not racially motivated and who are we to doubt that ascertain?

The AFC Bournemouth lads at the centre of the controversy might beg to differ, but at the heart of all this stupidity is a truly ridiculous notion that the police, according to the company, recommended the restaurant start asking people to pay for their meal before dining to “combat a number of incidents where customers have left without paying.”

I’m sure there are plenty of busy restaurant chains who’ve suffered the same problems, but they take it on the chin, train their staff accordingly and deal it.

They don’t plonk a bill in front of their so-called valued customers before they’ve even had the opportunity to find out whether it’s worth paying for.

This was an almighty cock-up because of a skewed policy that doesn’t appear to have been communicated properly to the staff and management at this restaurant.

And it’s left a very bitter taste in the mouths of lads who’ve every right to feel aggrieved.