A diner threatened to return to an English pub armed with a knife after being served a "below par" beef and onion sandwich, a court has heard.

Clive Davies, 54, left the White Horse pub in Cambridge and showed employees at a nearby grocery store a seven-inch blade he said he planned to use on the staff who had served him the unsatisfactory sandwich, the Cambridge News reported today.

Employees at the store called police and Davies, who has a previous conviction for manslaughter, was apprehended in another local pub, the Lion and Lamb.

He pleaded guilty to threatening and abusive language, possessing a bladed article in a public place, and possession of cannabis.