A widower has revealed he was left ‘disappointed’ after receiving food ‘for around 10 people’, despite paying nearly £1,000 for a 41-person buffet.

Simon Faulkner contacted the Royal Oak in Marlow to organise an event for his late wife, Jodie, who sadly passed away at the age of 43 from cancer.

The celebration of life was to commemorate what would have been her 44th birthday, but after initially agreeing to hire a private bar and buffet, Mr Faulker was left ‘shocked’ after he was told that due to a staff shortage, the ‘private bar would not be in use’.

This was coupled with a small portion of food being served to his guests.

Speaking on the JVS show on BBC 3 Counties Radio, he said: “There must have been a buffet for 10 and there were 41 of us.

“The first wave of people went to the table and noticed this, so they only put a small amount on their plates.

“The second wave did the same and that was it.

“We had the congregation with half a plate of food, and the other half didn’t have any food.

“When the owner was made aware, he put a dessert bowl out full of chips and that was it.”

Despite this, the widow paid for the amount that was agreed upon but did not share his dissatisfaction until after the bill was settled.

Speaking on the radio show, he explained the food had been displayed on a table that was ‘extremely small’, and that a total of £230 had been refunded – an amount that Simon allegedly never agreed to.

The Royal Oak passed on the issue to their solicitors who responded with ‘many pages’ of information, detailing that no complaint had been made to the pub and that following the end of the event, many negative reviews were left by guests on the internet.

It was then agreed that another £230 would be returned to Mr Faulkner on the basis he asked his friends and family to remove their online criticism of the Frieth Road-based establishment – a task the complainant argued ‘he has no control over’.

It has since been agreed that the solicitors ‘recognised they don’t have the power to tell his friends/family to remove the comments’, with a further £230 being returned.

The Free Press approached the Royal Oak in Marlow, but they declined to comment.