Four men caught on CCTV sneaking away from a meal without paying a bill of almost £100 have been exposed by a furious restaurant owner.
Footage captured the moment the group left their table at Los Amigos Steakhouse & Mexican in Liverpool for a cigarette, before glancing back into the restaurant then leaving.
In December last year, the restaurant gave the group a "gentle warning" to return and pay for their meal, and said it would share images of the men on social media if they didn't.
It added that it would inform the police if they did not pay up within seven days.
The bill-dodgers had ordered six two-course meals including BBQ chicken wings, nachos, burgers and a seabass, along with three pints of San Miguel and five Diet Cokes, Liverpool Echo reports.
A photo of the group's receipt shared on Facebook showed the bill came to a total of £96.20.
Louise Lawler, a manager at the restaurant, told The Echo: "So what happened was the group came in, ordered their food and ate their food and when out new waitress came over they asked if they could order some more food to takeaway.
"She said yes and then they asked her if they were okay to go out for a cigarette.
"Hari (the restaurant owner) was cooking the food and asked the waitress to go outside to check on them, she was intimidated by the group of lads but when she looked out the window they were gone.
"When I found out I was disappointed in the group. We're a new business, we only opened in October."
After waiting the seven days they specified, the business has now reported the incident to Merseyside Police and sent them CCTV footage of the group.
Footage shared with The Echo shows the four men leaving their table to have a cigarette and glancing back into the restaurant before walking away quickly.
A spokesperson from Merseyside Police confirmed they were investigating the footage.
They said: "On Monday, January 3 we received a report of an incident which had taken place on Aigburth Road on Monday December, 27.
"It was reported that, at around 9.15pm, four males had made off from Los Amigos restaurant without paying for their meal and drinks.
"The males, described as three adults and a teenager, were reported to have told staff they were going outside for a cigarette, only to have left the restaurant without paying their £96.20 bill."
Louise said the response from customers following the incident has been "overwhelming" with many people giving them messages of support.
She said: "We have had so much support from people. People have been coming into the restaurant and saying how awful it is and coming to visit after they saw what happened.
"We just want to say thank you to everyone in the community for their kind words and support."
Anyone who has any information is asked to contact police via DM @MerPolCC or call 101 @CrimestoppersUK anonymously on 0800 555 111 quoting reference 22000006565.
