Restaurant claims woman ran without paying £59 bill

A restaurant has defended its claim that a customer left without paying in a so-called "dine and dash" incident.

Rancho Steakhouse in Waterloo, near Liverpool, spoke out in response to customer Mollie Birch claiming she had been left "publicly humiliated" when the venue posted on CCTV of her leaving the premises.

The Liverpool Echo reported that the 28-year-old had said staff had followed her to a nearby railway station and filmed her, and that she had filed a complaint of harassment with police.

But restaurant manager Navin Thapa produced a till roll showing that two attempts to pay the £59.25 bill had been declined before the customer – who claimed she had then paid in cash – left.

Thapa said the bill – for starters, steak and a drink – was "not paid".

He added: "We're a small independent family-run business and it's obviously a very hard situation at this minute to get the doors open and we really work hard."

In response to the allegation that staff pursued the customer, he said: "This is not the matter of £60, it's a matter that small restaurants nowadays are very hard to run.

"Obviously we need to pay the staff wages, we also need to manage everything."

He said the restaurant posted the video as a "warning for the other restaurants – that she might come down and start doing the same thing".

"So it's like a precautionary measure for the other small independent businesses."

The BBC has approached Birch for comment, but has received no response.

The Liverpool Echo reported her as saying that since the video was posted she had "had so many cruel comments, which is horrible", adding: "They've made an absolute scene of me. I've been publicly humiliated."

She was said to have claimed her hurry out of the restaurant – captured on CCTV – was down to her "rushing for the train".

In a statement, Merseyside Police said it had received an allegation of harassment, adding: "We would always ask that crimes are reported directly to police and that businesses or individuals do not attempt to pursue suspects themselves.

"Circulating and sharing images and/or videos of alleged offences online, especially when these have not been shared with police, can jeopardise investigations and cause unnecessary distress."

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