THE BBC has been left red-faced after the ending to The Night Manager was revealed by a woman who has read the bestselling novel it is based on.

The leak occurred in the Newcastle branch of Cafe Rouge when customer Mary Fisher responded to excited chatter about whether the handsome public school chap and the blonde woman with the hairy shoulders would escape together.

Tom Logan, 33, was sitting at a nearby table: “She just came right out and explained exactly what was going to happen. Apparently the BBC allowed a thriller to be published 16 years ago that has the entire plot in it, right there for anyone with the time and patience to read a book.

“It is proof the licence fee should be reduced.”

Last night, however, Janet Fisher was backtracking: “I have read quite a lot of John le Carre novels, usually while on holiday, and the posh, psychologically wounded spies and sexy yet tragic women all blur into one.

“It is quite likely I have actually told everyone the ending of The Honourable Schoolboy or The Russia House by mistake.”