A woman who tried to save a man's life in a pub has claimed staff didn't know what to do.
But JD Wetherspoon, which runs The Palladium Electric in Midsomer Norton, has said staff did all they could to assist.
Kelly Cole was enjoying a family meal hours before the town carnival when she heard a man crying for help.
She told Somerset Live: "At first I thought it might have been a joke or a kid running around or something.
"Then I realized this was serious, it was a sheer panic kind of cry.
"I ran up to the man and started hitting him in the back from behind with my hand, and then he fell to the floor."
Ms Cole, who is first-aid trained, was guided on the phone by an ambulance call handler until paramedics arrived.
She says when the call handler asked if anyone knew CPR nobody knew what to do, so she stepped in.
She said: "I had to shout at the staff to stop letting customers into the pub as they were still letting people and children in and I didn't want people to walk in on what was happening.
"The staff were even still serving food at the time, there was a lady coming out with plates in her hands to serve to people.
"I find it disturbing that none of the staff there are first-aid trained - the manager told me that at the time.
"I personally think all staff should be first-aid trained at a place like that."
Sadly the man died after being taken to hospital.
JD Wetherspoon spokesman Eddie Gershon said: “First and foremost we send our sympathies to the family and friends of the customer who passed away.
“As soon as a member of staff was made aware of the man choking, staff and customers called the emergency services.
“The duty manager then spoke with the emergency services.
"He was guided through some procedures.
"A customer stepped in saying they were first-aid trained and started to give CPR until the paramedics arrived 5-10 minutes later and they then took over.
“At this time the duty manager started to clear the immediate area of customers and also stopped people coming into the pub."
'The family thanked the team for their efforts'
“The paramedics managed to revive the customer and then an air ambulance took the customer to hospital.
“The family of the customer called the pub the following day to say he had passed away and thanked the team for their efforts.
“We are confident that staff responded well to the situation and refute claims to the contrary.”
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