A mum has branded the food at a music festival a "laughable rip off" after saying she was charged £7 for "the worst cheesy chips I'd ever seen in my life".
Chloe Fletcher partied at the BeachJam festival in Redcar, North Yorkshire, where she was excited to see Joel Corry perform at the first big music event she had attended since the start of the pandemic.
After dancing up an appetite, the 23-year-old says she was disappointed to find the food on offer was all "ridiculously expensive" and ordered cheesy chips as the "cheapest thing" going, at a cost of £7.
But Chloe was left even more baffled when she was handed a tray of "poor quality" chips with a few slices of American Cheese "slapped on top" - and the picture went viral after it was shared on social media.
The mum-of-two, from Hartlepool, said: "It was so bad. They were the worst cheesy chips I'd ever seen in my life. They were £7. They were very overpriced and poor quality.
"They didn't even attempt to make it look nice. They literally just slapped [the cheese] on the top.
"The cheesy chips were the cheapest thing there. The drinks were ridiculously expensive - everything was.
"We were laughing at them but didn't really think much of it. I looked at the photo of them the next day but couldn't believe how bad they looked."
The bartender continued: "I didn't mind paying it but I didn't expect them to look like that. I knew that was the cheapest thing and I paid it anyway because we were there all day.
"We thought it was kind of funny and ate them. They even tried to melt the cheese in the microwave. It just didn't work.
"It just shows how much festivals can charge for food. I wouldn't dare hand that out to someone."
Chloe shared the image on social media where it's since been shared by hundreds of others, saying she never expected it to go viral as she was just showing friends and family "for a laugh".
One person replied to the picture to say: "Jesus they look so f***ing grim, should have asked for a refund. Chips look mank with a floppy bit of processed cheese chucked on for good measure. Yuck."
A second wrote: "Nah I'd kick off" and another added: "Imagine getting given that."
A BeachJam spokesperson said: "If any attendees were unhappy at any point with the quality of food provided by one of the independent suppliers on site, we would have hoped that they would have taken up their complaint with that particular vendor at the time of their purchase to either replace the product or to request a refund.
"Pricing is set independently by each vendor and clearly advertised prior to purchase. Drinks pricing is set in line with other regional events around the UK."
