The PMH special baby care unit should be £1,000 better off thanks to Bass Brewers and not just £500 says Shaw resident Phil Archer.

Last month swindonlink revealed that the brewery had not settled a wager about the use of The Village Inn pub at Shaw village centre, nine months after they agreed to pay it.

The bet was made in mid-1998 when a policy was brought in at the Village Inn which barred children from entering. Phil suggested a bet to Bass director and general manager Stephen Savill that the policy would change before the end of the century. They agreed to pay £500 to a charity of the winner's choice.

In April 1999 Phil claimed he had won as children were again being admitted into the pub at weekends between 12 noon and 5pm. He discovered that Mr Savill had retired but Bass business manager Phil McMahon agreed in June that the bet had been lost and he was 'establishing how best to pay up.' But nothing happened despite e-mails and assurances that payment would be made.

Yet in late April the Swindon Evening Advertiser carried a photograph of a cheque for £500 being presented to the PMH special baby care unit. It was described as 'a percentage of the tickets sold for the millennium celebrations at the pub.'

A member of staff at PMH confirmed this was their understanding of how the money was raised.

However Mr McMahon told swindonlink that the money at the presentation came from the brewery's charities department and was absolutely nothing to do with customers of the pub. "It has always been our intention to settle the bet; as far as we're concerned it has been paid."

Phil Archer commented: "there's obviously confusion as to where this money comes from. I don't believe Bass have settled this matter, and PMH are due a further £500."

He is considering whether to pursue the matter at a higher level within Bass.