Diners left £180 of their restaurant bill unpaid

Nine diners from two families refused to pay their £180 food and drink bill and left, the owner of an Italian restaurant in Wiltshire claims.

One of the customers threatened to ‘smash’ the owner’s head through a wall in the fifth dine and dash incident at Ciao Eatalia, in Highworth, near Swindon, this year.

Chef and co-owner Fabio Giacalone said it was having a “terrible” impact on his business.

Police have released CCTV images of people they hope to trace as part of their investigations.

Mr Giacalone said the “aggressive” group owed a “massive” bill, mainly from alcohol orders.

They paid £100 of their £280 bill before leaving the restaurant.

“We had a table of nine – everything seemed fine until the end,” Mr Giacalone said.

“When they were about to pay, they refused to pay the whole bill.”

A customer then “threatened to smash it” in the owner’s face through the wall, he said.

“I was very worried so I called the police.

“Unfortunately, they did not arrive in time.

“The impact was terrible – we lost a massive amount of money and the experience was terrible.”

Night Time Industry Association chief executive Michael Kill said there had been an increase in UK cases because “more people are getting away with it”.

“In terms of policing this, it’s very time-consuming, so prosecutions are very difficult,” he said.

“Right now the big challenge is to make an example of people because too many are now getting away with it.”

More restaurants are now moving to a pay-as-you-go approach, he added.

“A lot of companies are operating on a knife’s edge at the moment,” Mr Kill continued.

“Any loss of revenue in terms of food or service will have a big impact.”

A Wiltshire Police spokesman said: “The group are said to have become increasingly disruptive and abusive towards staff during the evening and only paid £100 of the bill before leaving.

“We hope to speak to the people photographed in relation to the incident.”