Jason's £3,500 round to say sorry for being late

Jason Manford bought his audience a round of drinks because he was running late on Saturday night – costing him more than £3,500.

The comic got stuck in traffic crossing the Pennines to the gig in Lincoln’s Engine Shed and realised he wouldn’t make the advertised 7.30pm start time.

So he announced he'd buy a free drink for everyone – prompting a cheer and a stampede for the bar, which brought him all the time he needed.

When he finally arrived on stage at 8.10pm, he was greeted by rapturous applause from the 850-strong crowd.

Venue manager Abbi Quinn said: ‘It was very generous of him.’

After receiving the £3,532 tab, Manford tweeted: ‘Seemed like good idea to offer free drink cos of lateness! But shoulda added Kopparberg to the banned list of drinks!

Published: 31 Mar 2014