'Dine and dashers' skip £155 bill on venue's opening night

Two suspected dine-and-dashers have been accused of targeting a Welsh restaurant's opening night where they stuffed their faces with fillet steaks and bottles of Malbec before leaving without paying the £155 bill. 

The Welsh House in Carmarthen has shared a CCTV image of two men it claimed dined for free on October 25 as they gobbled on £30 steaks, cockles and laverbread, and £25 bottles of Malbec wine and Irish whiskey coffees.

The alleged dine-and-dashers then left at 9.47pm through the front door without settling their £155.60 bill. 

A black and white image shows two men - both wearing hooded jackets - passing the reception area.  

Restaurant bosses have urged the men to come back and pay up saying they hoped it was a 'genuine mistake'.

A spokesperson for the restaurant said: 'We opened our doors on Friday, October 25, and our team has loved preparing our wholesome Welsh dishes and serving our fantastic customers here in Carmarthen. 

'Unfortunately, on the evening of our opening day, a couple dined with us and left without paying their bill.

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'We put a message out on social media as we truly hoped it was an oversight and that the couple would come forward and settle what they owe. 

'The response from the public and the town has been incredible. People understand that hospitality is a tough sector. 

'Average profit margins are between just 3pc and 5pc and a "dine and dash" incident can mean the difference between making a modest profit or a loss on any day.

'We remain committed to providing honest food made from the best locally sourced Welsh produce and to keeping our authentic dishes affordable for all our customers. 

'We want to thank everyone for their support. It has been truly humbling. From people popping in to ask how we are all getting on to seeing positive messages online.

'We do have CCTV of the couple who were at table 6. As a restaurant, we don't want to "name and shame" people as we hope that leaving without paying was a genuine mistake. 

'In an ideal world, they would simply return and pay the bill, and we can all draw a line under the event and get back to what matters to us more than anything in the world - delighting our brilliant customers here in Carmarthen and showcasing amazing producers from across Carmarthenshire and Wales.' 

The Welsh House - which already had venues open in Cardiff, Swansea and Neath - posted an update today to say no one has come forward to pay the bill. 

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Police have reportedly been notified of the suspected 'dine and dash'.  

MailOnline has contacted The Welsh House and Dyfed-Powys Police for comment.   

The claim comes after a spate of dine-and-dash incidents across the country - which a leading hospitality industry figure claims many restaurants are powerless to stop.  

Michael Kill, chief executive of the Night Time Industries Association, says dine-and-dashing is on the rise amid stretched police resources, making alleged food thieves feel they are untouchable.

'In all honesty I think there is an escalation because people have been able to get away with it, with limited or no action taken by the police in many circumstances,' Mr Kill told Yahoo! News UK in May.

'The greater the chance of getting away with it, the more people will take that chance.

'It is also clear that police have limited or no time to deal with petty crime and businesses feel that these crimes are not being taken seriously, resulting in people walking free without recourse.'

According to UK Hospitality - the trade body for hospitality businesses in the UK - a third of operators had recently experienced an incident of dine and dash.

Of those affected, 29% said the frequency of incidents had increased compared with the previous year.

Tony Sophoclides, UK Hospitality strategic affairs director, told the BBC walking out of restaurants without paying was unacceptable and showed 'a complete lack of respect'.

He said the rise in the number of incidents was probably linked to the cost-of-living crisis. 

In September, a mother admitted to performing a 'dine and dash' at a Wagamama restaurant after she refused to pay over claims there was a hair in her food.

Rosemary McDonagh was in a branch of the restaurant with friends in Ashford, Kent, when they were handed a £277 bill to pay.

A court heard that McDonagh complained about the food before leaving without footing the large bill.

The mother-of-two was arrested on Tuesday September 10 and later pleaded guilty to the 'dine and dash' offence at Maidstone Magistrates' Court.