Postcard from... New York

When is a foot not a foot? When it's a Subway Footlong, according to a picture posted by a customer which has been doing the rounds on the internet. The Australian sandwich connoisseur whipped out his measuring tape – as you do – and discovered that his sandwich came up short. A mere 11-ish inches.

The New York Post then followed up the image with its own crack investigation, finding that four out of seven Footlongs bought at locations in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens fell short of a foot. The controversy would have ended there. But now two New Jersey men have been so aggrieved that they've gone to court.

John Farley and Charles Noah Pendrack approached a lawyer after reading about the too-short sandwiches. The suit filed on Tuesday claims compensatory damages for the slight, and calls for a change in Subway's practices. Yesterday, the lawyer, one Stephen DeNittis, told ABC News that he was seeking class action status for the case. Mr DeNittis, who claims to have had sandwiches from 17 shops measured only to find that all came up short, is also preparing to file a similar case in Philadelphia.

While Subway Australia has reportedly defended the shortfall by noting that Footlong is nothing more than a trademark, the company earlier told ABC that the discrepancy was down to the fact bread at its outlets was freshly baked.

Whatever the result of the case, the controversy seems to have confirmed at least one thing: size does matter. At least when it comes to sandwiches.