East Lothian restaurant vows to shame 'dine and dash' trio who legged it without paying £70 bill

The group – three women and a child – reportedly enjoyed a slap-up meal at Ravelston House in Musselburgh on Wednesday, September 18 before legging it.

According to the owners, they ordered starters, mains and drinks – then left “one by one” while staff were busy serving other customers.

There is CCTV of the incident, and the restaurant says if the group don't return to pay the bill soon they will post the footage online and contact the police.

Posting about the incident on Facebook, the owners wrote: “Unfortunately on we had a dine and dash. Around 12.30 on Wednesday, September 18 we had three ladies and a child come into our restaurant and order starters, mains and drinks, all finished. One by one, they left the restaurant while our staff were distracted by other customers.

“We have these people very clearly on CCTV and even their car reg which was in our car park. Everyone can make mistakes and we gave them the benefit of the doubt and thought they might realise they had not paid the £70 bill and come back to pay over the weekend.

“This never happened so we are posting on here to hopefully remind them.”

Ravelston House customers were shocked to hear about the alleged dine and dish, with dozens saying it was a disgusting way to treat a local business.

One person said: “Why do people think this stuff is acceptable? You can’t afford it don’t go. That £70 is coming out of someone else’s pocket who have a family to feed too. Absolutely shocking!”

Another wrote: “Put the thieves' photos up so other businesses know what they look like. I'm sure they will return and pay the bill once they realise they've been caught.”

A third commented: “Disgusting that people think it is acceptable to do this! My mum and friends accidentally did this in a pub many years ago. When they realised that none of them paid - they called the pub right away to apologise and went straight back after work to pay in full.”