A party of four pensioners have been caught dashing from a restaurant without paying after racking up a £96.70 bill, much to the dismay of the heartbroken owner who claims the move was “carefully planned”.
The group picked the most expensive items on the menu at the Mid-Tex Restaurant and Bar in Hornsea, West Yorkshire, before distracting staff with another drinks order, allowing them to make their getaway on Saturday, November 11.
Restaurant owner Rasha Eid, 37, was left heartbroken by the pilfering pensioners who she said had “planned this all along”.
She says the group chose to sit next to the door before ordering items including the beef stroganoff and ‘mile-high tortilla pie’, which were among the most expensive on the menu.
When a waitress went to check if their food was ok she said one of the pensioners complained it was undercooked but still finished their plate after being offered a free drink to compensate.
Ms Eid said: “It’s been over 24 hours since it happened now and I don’t think they will come back and pay.
“They were not local customers and were just walk-ins and I had never seen them before.
“The people came across as really posh and they were quite old. They seemed to be around 65 or 70.”
After the meal Ms Eid said the group stayed for about an hour watching a live band before eventually making their escape.
CCTV footage shows the pensioners stand up and put their coats on as a waitress begins to make their drinks order, they check around for staff members before making a quick exit.
Ms Eid said she had hoped the diners would return to the restaurant and pay but said no one had come back.
The mother of two, who runs the restaurant with her husband Claude, 47, said she was left “very upset” by the incident.
She added: “It has left me very upset because one of the customers had also complained about our meat.
“Secondly, we are really nice people and everyone is struggling at the moment with all the prices going up. It really isn’t fair.
“This has only ever happened once before and the lady came in the next day, apologised and paid up.
“This group could have easily messaged to say they had forgotten to pay but they haven’t done so.”
She was not in the restaurant at the time the incident took place so had to be informed of the incident by a member of staff.
Ms Eid has not reported the incident to police but has shared the footage on social media in the hope of finding the group.
Since sharing the clip on Facebook, the footage has been shared more than 150 times.
