A bartender at a pub in Marlow couldn’t believe his eyes when Grammy-award-winning singer Ed Sheeran stopped by for a pint.

Dan Brown, 41, was behind the bar at The Churchill Tap in The Chequers pub in Marlow on a quiet Wednesday night when he spotted what appeared to be “a really good Ed Sheeran look-a-like” heading towards a corner table with a small group of friends.

The bar area was nearly empty, and it was only when Ed came up to the bar and ordered several pints of lager – and a bottle of sparkling water for his bodyguard – that Dan realised he was, in fact, the real deal.

“As soon as he opened his mouth, I knew it was him. I said, ‘Are you Ed Sheeran?’ and he just said, ‘Yeah, yeah I am’. He played it really cool.”

While the Shape of You singer went back to his friends, Dan chatted with his bodyguard, who told him Ed was in Marlow for a friend’s birthday and was likely heading on to one of the town’s many popular restaurants for a celebratory dinner afterwards.

After toing and froing about whether to ask for a photo – and batting away his co-workers asking to take a turn at the bar – Dan took the plunge when the singer headed back up to the bar on his way out to bring the pint glasses back.

READ MORE: Flood alert issued for Buckinghamshire town amid ‘heavy rainfall’

“He handed the glasses back and said, ‘Thank you’, and I asked really quickly, ‘Excuse me, can I get a selfie?’

“He must know his good side because he took the photo on my phone, then off he went.”

Dan described Ed as “a really nice guy” who came across as “very humble” and added that he had actually seen the musician twice before while living in South London, “before he became a megastar”, making their unexpected exchange at The Chequers all the more meaningful.

“I’ve worked here for a while, and it’s very, very rare to have celebrities coming by. If they do, it’s often people who live locally.

“He was the absolute last person I would have expected to walk in on a Wednesday night. It was unbelievable.”