Tottenham have vowed to pick up the tab for the medical which Everton defender Andy Hinchcliffe failed earlier this month after the bill was mistakenly sent to the England international.

Hinchcliffe received the £500 bill at his home and Everton manager Howard Kendall, who had originally likened the failed transfer negotiations to a Brian Rix farce, said: "This is as comical as events when the deal was first being negotiated.

"I'd like to think that this is surely some kind of error. We are treating the whole thing as a bit of joke and returning the bill to Tottenham."

A Spurs spokesman insisted in a statement: "The invoice never actually reached Tottenham Hotspur Football Club. The London Independent Hospital, without reference to us, mistakenly sent the invoice for Andy Hinchcliffe's medical costs to the player's home address.

"Mr Hinchcliffe and Everton can be reassured that Tottenham Hotspur Football Club will cover every penny of these medical bills."

With that, Tottenham had hoped the embarrassment would be over. But it was later revealed that the hospital concerned, the London Independent, had actually sent their invoice for equipment used during the medical to Spurs.

It was the Independent consultant's office that had sent the bill for his services to Hinchcliffe as the player had given them his home address, instead of the club's, when he arrived for the medical.

Hinchcliffe's proposed £3 million transfer collapsed when it was revealed that he was suffering from an Achilles problem, but Kendall said: "We believe Andy is fit, why the deal fell through, we don't know."