Thirty-two year old Gary Greenhalgh was in for a painful scary and stressful surprise when he consumed his takeaway dinner from a local, award-winning restaurant. While dining with his girlfriend, Melanie Reynard, Mr. Greenhalgh suddenly felt a very sharp pain in his throat. At first he thought a bone had lodged itself.

When his discomfort persisted, Gary proceeded to Pinderfields Hospital in Wakefield. Once there, doctors examined him, removed and identified the offending object. Instead of finding a bone, however, Doctors removed a sharp piece of metal from Gary's throat.

"It was painful and quite frightening. I complained to the restaurant but they weren't very helpful," said Greenhalgh. He did not elaborate on what steps he took to approach the restaurant and alert them of the situation. Also unclear was whether the restaurant offered a refund, some other sort of compensation, or even believed his story.

Mr. Greenhalgh then acquired the services of a solicitor, one Joanne Doherty from the law firm of Russell Jones & Walker. Russell Jones & Walker specialize in compensation claims, particularly personal injury cases.

"This could have been very serious," said Doherty, "As it is, Mr Greenhalgh's complaints to the restaurant have been dismissed out of hand. We are seeking compensation from Red Chilli for the injury their neglect caused and for the pain and suffering Mr Greenhalgh experienced."

The restaurant's owner, Ansar Ali maintains that he has no idea where the metal came from and also added that he has been offered no proof of the allegation.

"We've been operating this restaurant for two-and-a-half years. We've never had a complaint before about a piece of metal," he said.

"There's nothing metal in the kitchen apart from the pans, cutlery and cooker. This puts us in a bad position. We recently won a restaurant of the year award and the publicity of this is very unfair."

He further added that the complaint could have been handled between lawyers instead of played out in the media.

The restaurant has been in business for many years and has enjoyed the above mentioned award as well as a reputation for quality service, good food and reasonable prices; all told, a genuinely gratifying dining experience. This is the first type of this case to be brought to attention in its history.

This case also represents yet another in the ongoing debate between business owners, the public, solicitors and the government over the "compensation culture" and its toll on society.