Moment dine-and-dashers speed off with waiter hanging onto their car

Staff were confronting alleged dine and dashers when the family of four sped away with their car door open.

They left without paying after a meal at Pangs, a Chinese restaurant on Long Lane in Uxbridge, London, on March 23.

Footage from inside the restaurant showed two woman, one of them carrying a child in her arms, the other holding another child’s hand, as they walked out the door.

When staff realised what was happening, they chased them outside in an attempt to have them settle their bill.

But just as one man was stood holding the car door open for a chat, the driver hit the acceleration and sped off, leaving the staff members holding on for a brief chase.

‘Dine and dash… this is crazy’, the restaurant wrote on Facebook, describing the car as a white Mercedes-Benz C-Class.

‘Can’t believe they had two kids with them. Incident has been reported to the local authorities and they are looking out for the pair.

‘This is why we need to take payment up front for their sitdown meals, from now on. Fed up chasing the people out the door.’

A police spokesperson said: ‘We are aware of an incident at a restaurant in Uxbridge where a family left without paying their bill.

‘Enquiries are ongoing, and we urge anyone who may have seen something or has information to come forward.’

Dine-and-dashers can be a major headache for restaurant owners, who can lose hundreds of pounds each time.

An Italian restaurant West Sussex was down £390 after a group refused to pay food they described as ‘awful’. They left £60 for the alcohol they drank.

One couple racked up bills of £1,000 across five restaurants before using their children to walk out without paying between August 2023 and April last year.

Bernard McDonagh, 41, and his wife Ann, from Sandfields, Port Talbot, were jailed for eight and 12 months respectively for their stunts.

Ann had also pleaded guilty to thefts from two supermarkets and obstructing or resisting a police officer.

While some brazenly walk out without paying, some people go to great lengths to avoid settling up.

CCTV footage appeared to show one woman pluck a strand of hair from her head and place it on her plate at the Oriental Garden in Northampton.

She then allegedly left with her companion, without paying the £77 bill.

Like Pangs in Uxbridge, that Chinese restaurant said it would ask unfamiliar customers to pay when they order to avoid further losses.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.