You can’t help but applaud the ingenuity of this failed attempt to sneak booze into a racecourse

With eagle-eyed security folks rummaging through your bags, it’s never been harder to sneak alcohol into sporting venues.

One woman found that out the hard way when she attempted to hide a bottle of vodka inside a sandwich during a trip to Southwell Racecourse on Sunday.

The booze was duly confiscated, but not before security staff took a picture of the ingenious scheme for posterity.

What’s more, they were clearly in a generous mood.

“We gave her the sandwich back but kept the bottle,” Southwell executive director Mark Clayton said. “Our policy normally is to confiscate and bin, but we decided she showed so much innovation that we would keep it and let her collect it after racing.

“She didn’t. Maybe if it was Grey Goose she would have done.”

And while the method was new, the sight of racegoers trying to sneak contraband through security certainly isn’t.

“We do bag searches for every meeting. We find plenty of alcohol,” Clayton said. “People are advised that alcohol is not allowed to be brought on site.

“They still bring it in their droves. They hide it, we find it, we bin it.”