A Wetherspoons in Trowbridge was closed last night after a diner complained a rat ran up a his trouser leg and took a chip from out of his hand.
Customers were ushered out of the Albany Palace pub in the town centre after the incident, and the pub was closed for half an hour before it reopened.
Wetherspoons apologised this morning for the incident, and said they now believed the problem was 'under control' after calling in pest control.
The unfortunate diner was Reece Coombs, from Trowbridge, who was out with his partner Lucy Wrenn. She said: "My partner is eating his chips with his meal when a rat ran up his leg, took the chip from his hand and ran off!" "All we got was a refund, which was going to be a part-refund for the food we were waiting on, until I saw about the rushed drinks and incomplete, potentially contaminated starter we had," she added.
A spokesman for Wetherspoons confirmed the restaurant had to close last night because of a rat problem, but said he could not confirm whether a rat ran up a customer's trouser. "We can confirm that two rats were spotted in the pub last night," he said. "We are aware that one of the rats took a chip which had fallen on the floor from a customer's meal, but can't confirm the fact that it ran up a customer's trouser."