A landlord has slammed two families after they allegedly trashed his pub and left without paying their £330 bill.
Staff at the White Horse Inn in East Retford, Nottingham, were left disgusted when the two couples and their kids visited them on Tuesday (8 March).
According to the pub, the group ordered a lavish array of dishes, racking up a huge bill on tomahawk steaks, vodka, cocktails and drinks for their four children.
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Speaking about the incident, a spokesperson for the pub told the Nottingham Post that the 'intimidating' group snuck out to avoid paying what they owed.
He said: "It is just ridiculous.
"One of them distracted the member of staff by standing at the bar out of sight of the door.
"He was ordering another drink while the ladies in the group marched their children out, one under each arm, and bundled them into a couple of cars.
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"Then they waited until the last guy exited and shot off."
With the pandemic having hit the hospitality industry particularly hard over the past couple of years, he said pubs really don't need this kind of behaviour just as they are getting back on their feet.
"The price of everything is going up massively," he said.
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"We have got wholesale beer increases of nearly 15p a pint this year to deal with.
"We are going to try to soak that all up, and we will try and fight all of that and then people are going to do that.
"It is not very helpful."
But while the financial loss is always significant for any business, the spokesperson said it was the effect the customer's 'awful' behaviour had on staff that most worried him.
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"The member of the staff that was on rang the manager and said he was upset and quite exasperated," he said.
"He had been intimidated by their passive-aggressive behaviour - and he has blamed himself.
"It is awful because he was doing really well and was training to be in a managerial position.
"Now he has lost all of his confidence. It is not that it just hurts my pocket, the real problem is that the staff there are nervous now and do not feel comfortable."
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The pub owner said he has worked in the industry for about a decade - but that he has never witnessed 'anything like it'.
He then added: "The children were running around the restaurant, running up to people's tables, falling over things.
"And then they have left bowls of food upturned on the floor - I have never seen anything like it in ten years in the industry.
"It was just like a pack of bears had been in."
The matter is now being investigated by police.
Inspector Hayley Crawford, of Nottinghamshire Police, asked anyone who may have any information to come forward.
She said: "We are pursuing lines of enquiry following a report that a group of people had attended The White Horse Inn in Barnby Moor, eaten a meal and left without paying.
"Officers are making enquiries after the incident was reported to us at around 9pm yesterday.
"To help us with our investigation we are urging anyone with information to please get in touch with us."
Topics: UK News
Dominic Smithers