'Cursed' hand 'stolen from pub'

A hand believed to have been severed from the wrist of a rule-breaking card player has been stolen from its display case in a Wiltshire pub.

According to The Daily Telegraph, the supposedly cursed body part was cut from a gambler caught cheating at whist and was kept locked behind glass at the Haunch of Venison pub in Salisbury.

Barmaid Chantelle Stefan said: "The butcher chopped his hand off years ago and threw it into the fireplace.

''When we did the room out it was found again. As a listed building we keep everything and put it in a display case."

She added: "'They unscrewed the lock on the side. There are bars holding it against the wall. They might have done it as a prank. Hopefully we will get it back.''

The hand, which holds an 18th century pack of cards, went missing before in March 2004 but was returned six weeks later.

It is claimed that the ghost of the hand's original owner, the 'Demented Whist Player', haunts the pub to this day.