Girl, 4, nurses hangover after being served a vodka cocktail at restaurant

A four-year-old girl was left worse for wear after staff at a Frankie and Benny’s served her a vodka cocktail by mistake.

Evelyn, four, was unable to walk in a straight line after enjoying a vodka cocktail at Frankie and Benny’s.

Frankie and Benny’s has apologised for the “genuine human error” which took place at one of the restaurant group’s branches in Burtonwood, Warrington.

Evelyn Thomas was unable to walk in a straight line, told jokes and giggled at her own reflection after she was served a F&B on The Beach — a vodka-based cocktail which also included Archers peach schnapps, orange and cranberry juice — instead of the “mocktail” her parents had tried to order.

Mark Thomas, 33, said her daughter sank one third of her drink before pushing it away in disgust.

Mark and fiancée Katheryn Wilson, 29, initially encouraged Evelyn to finish her drink, believing she was being “fussy”, before a waitress rushed to their table to admit the mistake.

Mark said he “didn’t really know how to react” when the waitress revealed the drink was alcoholic, but didn’t want to see her punished.

The cocktail contained vodka and Archers peach schnapps.

“I acted kindly towards the waitress and told her not to worry and that we would keep an eye on Evelyn,” Mark told Manchester Evening News. “We kept asking her if she was okay and if she needed anything, but she said she was fine.”

But Evelyn showed signs of inebriation when she stood up in the booth her family were sat in and “started dancing.”

“Four-year-olds are silly anyway so we weren’t sure if it was the alcohol or just her being a four-year-old,” he said.

“I wanted to see if she could walk but she was swaying, she also walked into a post.”

Evelyn also asked to be taken to the loo.

But when she got there, she began laughing at her reflection in the mirror and “cracking funny jokes.”

“This may have looked normal for any other four-year-old but I knew it wasn’t normal for Evelyn.”

Becoming worried, Mark took her back to the booth and asked for an order of garlic bread in a bid to sober her up.

“At this point we were getting quite concerned. She couldn’t eat the garlic bread so I got her some ice cream as I know alcohol can lower the blood sugar levels in children but she still couldn’t eat it.”

Her parents took her home and decided to call 111 for extra measure, and were told to bring her to A&E as she may have consumed nat least two shots of alcohol.

“They did tests and she couldn’t walk in a straight line. Anything serious was ruled out and we were told she was just tipsy and to keep an eye on her.

“They said she would have a hangover. I couldn’t believe it, she was four years old and about to have her first hangover.”

Frankie and Benny’s apologised for the “unfortunate incident”, and said staff reacted quickly as soon as they were made aware of the situation.

“This was genuine human error and we will do our utmost to ensure this does not happen again,” a spokesperson told the drinks business.

Mark has now called for clearer serving rules, such as using plastic cups or different glasses for non-alcoholic drinks ordered for children.

“We’re not going back there – they need more training,” he said.

“I don’t think they should be serving kids ‘mocktails’ unless there is more to distinguish them from normal alcoholic cocktails.

“We are very sympathetic to the waitress here, she was genuinely upset by it. We don’t want her disciplined by her employer, we see it as a training issue.”