THIS is the shocking moment three women appeared to walk out on a £300 bill after throwing back sambuca and vodka shots.
Greedy guzzlers have targeted a little Italian restaurant in St Leonards on Sea, Sussex, three times in a spate of shameless dine-and-dashes.
CCTV footage from La Bella Vista revealed three women knocking back cocktails and stuffing themselves with pasta.
The audacious offenders sat on their phones before walking out – with one even brazenly returning to finish a drink.
Their hefty bill, which totalled £313.98, revealed they’d sunk two sambuca shots, two Smirnoff, a Baileys, and three medium white wines.
Sadly, it’s not the first time owner Aldo Esposito’s restaurant has been targeted.
He claimed his business has lost out on an eye-watering £1,000 since October last year.
The frustrated owner told ITV News Meridian: “I feel disappointed and frustrated with the situation because we put a lot of love and effort into the business and dealing with situations like this is very disheartening.
“At the moment, running a business, a family business like this, it’s quite difficult due to the financial situations.
“So when people come here and take advantage it’s, you know, it’s hard to take.”
Aldo said he wished for his customers to be able to relax when they come to eat.
However, staff now feel pressured to “sort of analyse” guests, which is “not something” the business wants.
Sussex Police Chief Inspector Jay Mendis-Gunaskera said: “We’re really proactive with our business crime teams.
“We work with local businesses to support our communities and try to bring the offenders of these types of crimes to justice.”
The Sun contacted La Bella Vista and Sussex Police for comment.
It comes after a greedy family-of-eight were caught stuffing their faces with £329 worth of grub – only to leave without paying.
The shameless clan dined on T-bone steaks, over a dozen soft drinks, and delved into second helpings of dessert, when they visited the Bella Ciao Italian in Port Talbot near Swansea.
Bernard McDonagh, 41, and his wife Ann McDonagh, 39, were later pleaded guilty to five counts of fraud at Swansea Magistrates’ Court.
If a customer or group ‘dine-and-dash’, they could be charged under section 3 of the 1978 Theft Act.
This deals with people who eat out and leave without paying.
It is considered theft if there is a failure to pay when it is known that payment is required for goods or services.
The offence can carry a prison sentence of up to two years
Elsewhere, one woman boasted of being the ‘most wanted’ dine-and-dasher, after allegedly cheating pubs and restaurants out of hundreds.
The serial offender has been caught on CCTV multiple times executing her plan as she hits venues in Christchurch, Bournemouth and Poole.
Meanwhile, two men stuffed their faces with over £110 worth of food before fleeing a Vietnamese restaurant in a “perfect plan”.
They guzzled beer and gorged on spicy beef pho, rice and noodles for two hours at Viet80s in Nottingham.
Plus, one pub was ravaged by a ‘dine and dash’ family of 12, who dodged a bill of £260 – including a steak and ten pints.
And, watch the shocking moment a gang of pensioners appeared to distract staff to allegedly skip out on a £100 bill was caught on camera.
