Watch as teenagers appear to run out of well-known Northampton Indian restaurant without paying £200 bill

The incident happened at Saffron, an Indian restaurant on Castilian Street, at around 11pm on Monday, August 5. The restaurant claims the group ate a full meal before walking out without settling their bill.

The group’s order totalled £197.30, according to a receipt shared by the restaurant. The breakdown included four plain poppadoms for £5.60, one chutney tray for £2.20, two chargrilled lamb chops for £24.00, three chicken chat dishes for £30.00, two chicken tikka mains for £28.00, two chicken tikka masalas for £32.00, two boiled rice portions for £11.00, two garlic naans for £12.00, three chapatis for £12.00, one serving of chips for £4.50, and nine 330ml glass bottles of Coke for £36.00.

The restaurant has since issued a warning and released the CCTV footage.

In a post shared on social media, the restaurant said four men entered the restaurant, had a full meal and say they left without paying.

“This kind of behaviour isn’t just theft – it affects hardworking small businesses and our local community,” the owners said.

“We urge neighbouring businesses to stay alert. If you recognise these individuals or have any information, please contact us directly or report it to the police. Help us hold these people accountable – there’s no place for this kind of behaviour in our community.”

Northamptonshire Police said: “We are investigating this incident as a theft and anyone with any information as to who the males are should contact us on 101 quoting incident number 25000457718.”

Speaking to this newspaper, a representative of the restaurant said incidents like this have a real impact.

They said: “It's a big impact. Business as it is, we're 30 per cent down. It's very quiet at the moment… for a Monday night, it's mostly half of our takings.”

They added: “People go out for a quick smoke and then they do a runner, but this is the first time like this.”

The owner, as seen in the footage, said staff did try to follow the group but were unable to stop them.

The owner said: "We’re an upmarket restaurant. There were young waiters around and they weren’t sure what to do.

"We don’t expect this from anybody running away when they had food. If they want food, if they ask us, we will give them something – free of charge.”