Restaurant slams 'thickest thieves' who fled without paying – but left details for track and trace

A restaurant has outed two diners who tried to flee without paying — but had forgotten they had left their details behind for track and trace.

Ziggy’s in St. Andrew’s, Scotland, said the pair tried to leave without paying their bill but had already provided their details as per coronavirus regulations, meaning the restaurant could first call them to confront them and then contact police to report them.

Sharing the incident on Facebook, Ziggy’s described how the pair arrived on Monday 28 September without a reservation, and since there was space, staff had taken their details — as required for coronavirus contact-tracing procedures — and seated them.

“They finished their meal and before we had the chance to clear their plates, one left with the kids leaving the other to ‘pay’!,” the restaurant wrote on its Facebook page.

“Of course the Apple Pay didn’t work, so she had to run to the car to get her bank card,” the post continued.

“Meanwhile the friend was already in the car trying to drive the wrong way out of Murray Place (a one-way road)!”

The post described how the woman became embroiled in an argument with a Deliveroo driver who tried to tell her she was driving the wrong way, so he then took a picture of her registration place.

The restaurant also phoned the pair using the number the woman had left and ended up being given “a load of abuse”, it claimed in the post.

Ziggy’s said the picture of the car registration place, plus the woman’s name and number, had been passed on to police, adding: “thank you track and trace”, and said the pair had left a pair of children’s wellies in their haste to leave.

“Maybe you can pay the bill when you come to collect them!,” it added.

Police Scotland told The Sun it is pursuing a “positive line of enquiry” after receiving a report of a group leaving a premises in Murray Place without paying at around 7.15pm on Monday, 28 September.

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