The family were accused to have not paid for their £150 (€176) meal.

A Facebook post from the Horse and Jockey in Tideswell, Derbyshire, condemned the behaviour of Peter and Ann McGirr, who had been dining at the pub with their two adult children.

The family of four, from County Tyrone, ate two £27 (€31.84) 10oz ribeye steaks with all the trimmings and two £15.25 (€17.99) Derbyshire gammon steaks, and drank real ales and lagers, according to the post, which even featured CCTV footage of the family.

The story was picked up by the media and press reports, who labelled the family "dine-and-dashers".

However, it was later revealed that they did pay for their meal and a potential mistake from the staff meant that the transaction was not rung through the till properly.

The family sued the pub at Belfast Crown Court due to the embarrassment and reputational damage they had suffered.

Their barrister Peter Girvan told the court: "These articles contained serious and defamatory accusations that the plaintiffs had engaged in dishonest and criminal conduct by deliberately absconding without settling a bill of approximately £150.

"The allegations were entirely false. The plaintiffs had not engaged in any such conduct, and the statements made by the defendants had no factual basis."

The pub agreed to the £75,000 fine for damages as well as the family's legal costs, as part of a settlement agreement.

A statement issued by the Horse and Jockey in July last year read: "We want to sincerely apologise to the people involved because we have now learnt that they did in fact pay for their meal.

"There was no dishonesty involved from our staff, it was an honest mistake but we have dismissed the member of staff responsible for the error."