Curry-mad Joe Turner popped into his local Indian restaurant and ate an entire meal - while sleepwalking.

Mr Turner, 24, wolfed down his a madras and then paid the bill while in a trance.

His walkabout began after he came home from a hard day at work and went straight to bed without eating.

He awoke the next morning to find his breath stinking of garlic and a £16 bill in his back pocket from the Bombay Indian in Station Road, Bognor.

After querying it with the waiters they told him he had breezed into the restaurant, ordered his usual - a chicken madras with pilau rice, poppadoms and a beer - and sat down and guzzled it.

The labourer, who lives in Bognor, said: "I have been a sleepwalker all my life but never thought I could sit through a curry without waking.

"I have ridden my bike asleep and gone on strolls in the middle of the night and woken up in some strange places, but this is something else.

"The guys in the curry house told me I had been perfectly lucid and ordered my usual.

"I always have the same thing, a fired-up madras and pilau rice, with a couple of poppadoms, naan bread and a beer.

"I sat down and ate it and left after paying but I honestly don't recall a thing. Obviously my brain and body had a little chat and decided to take me for a curry but didn't bother waking me.

"Next morning I had garlic breath and thought it odd.

"Then I went through my pockets and found some change and the bill.

"I was stunned. I would never have known had I not found the bill. I just hope I left a tip."

The waiter who served Mr Turner said he did not realise he was asleep at the time.

Kos Miah, 30, said: "We didn't realise. We have customers who nod off after a lot of booze and a curry but never anyone already asleep.

"We had a good laugh and from now on we'll always look at Joe and wonder, is he snoozing?"

Experts say sleep walkers can often go on long journeys or carry out complex tasks.

An estimated 75 per cent of the world's population have sleepwalked at some point in their life.