(London) A British chef’s appeal to thieves to return 2,500 pies from a stolen van ended in disappointment on Tuesday when police found the vehicle abandoned, but with its tasty cargo too damaged to be consumed.
Posted at 7:34 a.m.
Updated at 1:40 p.m.
Tommy Banks, owner of two Michelin-starred restaurants and a pub in the northern English county of Yorkshire, said a member of his staff discovered the van was missing, along with his cargo of steaks and ale pies, turkey and butternut squash, destined for a Christmas market in the city of York. The food was valued at 25,000 pounds (approximately $44,000 CAD).
Mr Banks said the van was insured, but he implored the vehicle’s thieves not to let the food go to waste. In an Instagram video, he suggested they “do the right thing” and drop off the pies at a community center or other location.
In an update, Mr Banks said police found the van, badly damaged and bearing stolen number plates, in Middlesbrough, around 50 kilometers from where it was stolen. He said the pies were still inside, but were damaged and should be thrown out.
“It’s a real waste. It’s just garbage, Mr. Banks lamented in a video posted on Instagram. Sorry, that’s not a happier ending to this story.”
This is another artisan food theft to shake up the UK food trade. In October, nearly 1,000 wheels of cloth-wrapped artisan cheddar weighing 22 tonnes (48,488 pounds) and valued at 300,000 pounds (C$533,000) were stolen from London’s Neal’s Yard dairy by a crook posing as a wholesaler for a major French retailer.
Despite a hunt by British and international police – and an appeal from chef Jamie Oliver on television – the cheese was not found. A 63-year-old man was arrested and questioned by police, but has not been charged.
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