Dine and dash 'travellers' sprint out of riverside cafe after gorging on £100 worth of fry-ups

A group of travellers feasted on nearly £100 worth of fry-ups, cakes and fizzy drinks before fleeing a community riverside café in front of horrified customers and staff, the Daily Mail can reveal.

The owners of Honey's Bakery & Café are devastated after the group of three women, two men and a very young child sprinted from their table without paying in a 'dine and dash' incident on Tuesday afternoon.

Staff at the family-run cafe in Caergwrle, North Wales, told the Mail how they were forced to chase the suspected travellers through the car park after they refused to pay the £93.80 bill.

A copy of the bill shows the dine and dashers ordered six full English breakfasts, seven cokes, one brownie, two chocolate fudge cakes and a cookie.

It is the latest incident of dine and dashing - a scourge in Britain which is leaving business owners traumatised and out of pocket. 

Annie Bailey, who was serving the family, told the Mail: 'We were just shocked that people would actually act like that. All the customers in the cafe were watching on horrified.

'It's such a difference for a small business. It was just horrible to see it happening in real time. You have five or six individuals who just took complete liberties and took advantage of a small business.'

Owner Coleen Tou, who took over the business in 2019, added: 'They were very skilled, they know what they're doing. One lady that's from the group has actually been to the cafe before, so they know that we don't take payment up front. 

'I'm just glad the staff didn't get hurt or anything.'

A copy of the bill shows the dine and dashers ordered six full English breakfasts, seven cokes, one brownie, two chocolate fudge cakes and a cookie

This is the Honey's Bakery and Café where a group of suspected travellers dined and dashed

Ms Tou added that she was 'not that shocked' anymore as dine and dashers are rife at the moment, adding: 'It is certainly something I encountered running this business.'

Describing how the group struck this time, Ms Bailey, 21, explained how staff 'believed them to be travellers' when they first came in but had no issues as 'we serve everybody equally'.

She added: 'They came in, sat outside, right next to the car park, ordered a vast amount of food, and then literally ran out of the cafe, ran out of the car park, sprinted away. We ran after them.

'It was a group of six individuals, two men, three women, and a small child as well. They just left completely without paying.

'They had everything, really. They had full breakfasts, cakes and drinks, it was just a horrible ordeal.'

Speaking about the impact on staff, Ms Bailey, who has worked there for four years, said: 'We were just all in complete shock and just really upset and frustrated, really.'

She said they seemed 'fine' when they arrived, explaining: 'We were just keeping an eye on everybody like we do usually and then it was literally just so quick - just two split seconds, and they literally legged it.'

Ms Bailey said they didn't even ask for the bill, adding: 'We chased after them but we couldn't catch up to any of them.'

Staff who were working on the shift told the Mail how they were forced to chase the suspected travellers through the car park after they refused to pay the £93.80 bill. Pictured (L-R): Annie, Gracie and Ellie

Staff told the Mail how the dine and dashers ordered the big meal and fled through the car park

They had been sat on the tables overlooking the river in the North Wales village of Caergwrle

Raising awareness about dine and dashers in the area, Honey's Bakery wrote on Instagram: 'This afternoon at Honeys we experienced a dine-and-dash incident. A group of family with Irish accents came in, ordered a large amount of food, and left without paying.'

They added: 'If you are approached by a group matching this description, please take payment before serving, and report any suspicious behaviour to the authorities.' 

A spokesman for North Wales Police said: 'Shortly after 3pm on Tuesday, 12 August, we received a report that a group eating at a restaurant in Caergwrle, Flintshire, left without making a payment of approximately £100.

'The incident is reported to have taken place at around 2pm.

'Anyone with information in relation to the incident is asked to contact officers on 101, or via the website, using reference number C124476.'

Just last week, four dine and dashers fled from an Indian restaurant in Northampton after feasting on almost £200 of food.

CCTV showed the group arriving at 10.11pm before leaving at 10.58pm, having feasted on poppadoms, lamb chops, four chicken curries, three chicken chats and a selection of naans and chapatis.

Days earlier, a family of 10 were accused of barging their way out of a popular pub after 'refusing to pay' the £320 food bill.

Kelly Jollife, 49, landlady of the Greyhound Inn in Usk, Wales, said each member of the large group ordered a starter and main course, consumed them fully, but then refused to pay for anything other than their drinks.

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