UK Subway worker filmed putting lettuce leaves up his nose in sandwich shop... before putting them back on display.

A sandwich bar worker was sacked after footage of him stuffing lettuce leaves up his nose - before he put them back in their serving tray - was posted on YouTube.

Richard Shannon, who also put salad leaves in his mouth before spitting them out, was arrested after a 'disgusted' customer recognised the 22-year-old on the internet.

Shannon was arrested after the irate woman went to a branch of Subway in Brownhills, West Midlands, and hurled a chair at him, Walsall Magistrates' Court heard today.

he defendant admitted a single charge of contaminating or interfering with goods with intent to cause economic loss, alarm or injury.

He claimed the incident, filmed by a friend on a mobile phone early last year, had been a prank and that the lettuce, which went back into a tray used to make customers' sandwiches, had been discarded.

But magistrates' chairman Elizabeth Baugh, who viewed the footage of the offence, said it had caused great anxiety and distress.

The magistrate told Shannon: 'Despite your previous good character, your actions merit a custodial sentence.

'However, due to your early guilty plea and the fact you have shown remorse for your actions, we are imposing a community order.'

Shannon, who had faced a jail term of up to six months, was also ordered to do 300 hours of unpaid work for the community.

Passing sentence, Mrs Baugh said the bench had considered the case very seriously and pointed out that Shannon had been in a position of trust.

The magistrate said: 'Your actions caused great distress, not only to the public who consume this food, but also to the company. I think you have learnt a very, very serious lesson.

'You have been extremely lucky - you have caused a lot of harm and distress to a lot of people.'

Defence solicitor Sheila Hicklin suggested that the offence, prosecuted under miscellaneous provisions in the Public Order Act, was a sign of Shannon's immaturity.

Her client had initially been confronted by the angry customer while inside a toilet cubicle at the shop before the chair was thrown last November, the lawyer said.

She told the court: 'He had absolutely no idea that the person who was in the shop with him was going to put this on YouTube.

'I don't think there has been any suggestion that any member of the public was harmed. No-one would have had any of that lettuce because it was discarded.'

The prosecution and surrounding media interest had had a profound effect on Shannon, who is now unemployed, the defence lawyer added.