Restaurant shares CCTV of alleged ‘dine and dash’ over £400 ‘earthy’ lobster bill

A restaurant in Worcestershire has shared CCTV images of a group of six people who they claim ‘deliberately left without paying for their food and drinks’ after allegedly racking up a £400 bill

Bosses at a restaurant in Worcestershire have accused a group of six people of having ‘dined and dashed’ from the premises after they allegedly refused to pay a £400 bill.

Sharing CCTV stills of the alleged group on social media, Aegean Breeze Seafood and Steak House, on Friary Walk in Worcester, said the six diners “deliberately left without paying for their food and drinks” after racking up the hefty bill at around 5pm on Saturday (June 27).

Paul Faulkner, the restaurant’s operations director, told the BBC some members of the group became “quite hostile at the till” and allegedly decided to skip out of the eatery after complaining that the lobster in a shellfish platter had tasted “earthy”.

The restaurant’s post on social media further apologised to customers who were dining at the time and who witnessed the incident, reports Birmingham Live.

“We would also like to sincerely apologise to all of our customers who were dining with us at the time and witnessed the incident,” it read. “We understand it may have been upsetting to see. We want to reassure everyone that, as far as we are aware, this incident had nothing to do with the quality of our food or our service, but was simply the result of the actions of these individuals.

“These individuals are no longer welcome at our restaurant, and the matter has been reported to the police, who are now dealing with the incident.”

Faulkner told the outlet that the restaurant, known for its steaks, seafood and pizza dishes, had never previously experienced any dine-and-dash incidents since it opened in the city centre nearly a year ago.

On this particular occasion, the group reportedly complained about the lobster in the shellfish platter, leading staff to offer discounts on the bill. However, he said the group turned down the offer.

West Mercia Police confirmed they were called to the scene. In a statement to the BBC, a spokesperson for the force said: “We received a call around 17:15 BST on Saturday with a report of people making off without payment from a restaurant on Friary Walk in Worcester.

“An investigation is ongoing.”

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