Austerity? Not with the most expensive drinks bill in the world

The unnamed financier pulled out all the stops at a top nightclub in Liverpool on Saturday night to toast a deal with friends.

He ordered a single bottle of Armand de Brignac Midas champagne – at £125,000 for a 30-litre double Nebuchadnezzar or Melchizedek thought to be world’s most expensive.

He then spent a further £80,000 on other champagnes, vodka, beer and mixers for his entourage.

His final bill of £203,948.80, which included an £18,500 tip, is believed to be the highest ever paid in a club anywhere in the world. It comfortably beats the £170,000 paid last June by American gambler Don Johnson at the One for One nightclub in Park Lane, London.

The extraordinary event took place at the exclusive PlayGround nightclub at Liverpool’s Hilton Hotel. Clubbers watched in shock as the man, believed to be a foreign exchange currency trader in his twenties, ordered the Armand de Brignac.

Nightclub boss George Panayiotou ordered the DJ to play The Dawn of Man, the iconic anthem to the film 2001: A Space Odyssey, as the huge bottle, weighing 45kg, was carried through by two members of staff.

One witness said: “The club went wild when he popped this huge bottle of champagne, and they were handing out glasses of champagne to everyone in the VIP room.

“Frankly there was no way all his group would have got through the bottle on their own anyway.

“This guy was phenomenally generous and was buying everyone in the place a drink.

“Funny thing was though that he didn’t seem to be drinking much himself and looked totally sober, but he was clearly having a great time.”

After opening the giant bottle of bubbly, the man ordered 40 bottles of Ace of Spade champagne and handed them out to single women in the club. He also bought clubbers Grey Goose vodka – earning the attention of dozens of beauties.

The witness added: “The party went off with a bang and everyone was toasting this guy’s generosity.”