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7 months ago
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This is the shocking moment a family of dine and dashers are caught leaving an Italian restaurant without paying.
The family-of-eight racked up an unpaid £329 tab when they sat at the Bella Ciao Italian restaurant in Port Talbot, just west of Swansea, on Friday evening.
Diners ordered expensive steaks, double deserts and 15 bottles of pop, but started to send back a number of half empty plates, which raised eyebrows among staff members.
Having been given the bill, CCTV footage shows the mother of the group attempting to pay with a savings account card which got declined twice.
She allegedly told staff her son would wait inside while she went to get her 'other card', but she did not return and moments later the boy had also vanished from the premises.
The family-of-eight racked up an unpaid £329 bill when they sat at the Bella Ciao Italian restaurant in Port Talbot, just west of Swansea, on Friday evening
Having been given the bill, CCTV footage shows the mother of the group attempting to pay with a savings account card which got declined twice
The mother allegedly told staff her son (left) would wait inside while she went to get her 'other card', but she did not return and moments later the boy had also vanished from the premises
Manager Tyrone Reese told The Mirror: 'Once he [the boy] gets to the door, he runs. My son was about to go after him but I told him not to.'
To add insult to injury, the family-owned restaurant learned there was no way to contact the family as the number they used to take the booking was 'fake'. Mr Reese has now reported the incident to the police.
The dine and dash video was posted by Bella Ciao onto social media and went viral over the weekend, with more than 12 million people viewing the post.
After publishing the clip, Mr Reese says he was bombarded with calls from other restaurants in the area, claiming they also had similar incidents with a family that had refused to pay.
However, the restaurant owner said he was disappointed by the lack of urgency shown by the force to catch the perpetrators, adding: 'I'm paying my tax for police but I seem to be powerless. It annoys me to know this is happening and that they are getting away with it.'
But the video has actually helped Mr Reese's business as the following night he had tripled the number of bookings, something he described as a 'sign of solidarity' from the local community.
Leaving a restaurant without paying is a crime and carries a prison sentence of up to two years.
MailOnline have approached South Wales Police for a comment.
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