Footage sent to The Mirror by The Yard, a pizzeria in Cowbridge, south Wales, shows the woman “do a runner” after allegedly asking staff where the nearest cashpoint was
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Cowbridge: CCTV shows alleged serial ‘dine-and-dasher’
Footage shows a suspected “dine and dasher do a runner” after allegedly asking staff for directions to the nearest cashpoint.
The owner of the restaurant believes it is the same person who was seen on CCTV at another restaurant where a woman is alleged to have left without paying the bill after a group dined.
The woman is said to have told staff at The Yard, a pizzeria in Cowbridge, south Wales, her “card wasn’t working” despite gorging on garlic bread, prawns, lasagne and pizzas with five other diners to the tune of £151.
She and her party allegedly fled the restaurant and never returned to pay the bill. Emily Langford, the manager of the family-run pizzeria, told The Mirror: “We have shared the footage because we want to warn other businesses in our area that they did this, they ran and didn’t pay the bill of £151.”
Emily spoke out following a family of eight’s alleged spree of “dining and dashing” across a 30-mile radius in south Wales. They are said to have targeted seven restaurants since August last year.
All seven restaurants reported the couple to the police, and South Wales Constabulary today confirmed two people have been arrested. A spokesman said: “Two people have been arrested following reports of several incidents of non-payment of restaurant bills and shoplifting.
“A 41-year-old man and a 39-year-old woman, both from Port Talbot, south Wales, have been arrested for fraud (obtaining services dishonestly) and theft offences. They are currently in police custody at Swansea Central police station. Our investigation is ongoing.”
Each establishment claims a man and woman arrived in a Blue Ford van, sat with large groups of people and often ordered the most expensive dishes on the menu before allegedly fleeing after the bill arrives.
Emily said at The Yard on March 19, the rest of the party left the premises for the woman to pay but she allegedly came to the counter and tried to complete the transaction with her card, which was declined twice, before asking staff for the nearest cashpoint and allegedly disappearing out of sight after walking out the door.
“It’s devastating. Because obviously, all hospitality is really, really struggling at the minute, like we’ll put our hands up and say we’re not doing as well as we were doing a couple of years ago, and I’m sure that a lot of hospitality are feeling the same as well, and we know restaurants that are closing around us,” Emily told Mail Online.
She said the business has never experienced anything like this in the seven years of operation. The other recent alleged fraud happened at a restaurant in Port Talbot, nearly 30 miles from Emily’s pizzeria.
