Gwent Police's response in FULL to family's brazen dine and dash after £320 meal

Police have tonight confirmed they are investigating a theft after a family of ten "baged their way" out of a pub without settling their £320 bill.

Officers are probing the offence, believed to have happened at the Greyhound Inn in Usk, south Wales, on Sunday afternoon. It left the landlady, Kelly Jollife, furious but she has been overwhelmed with support from her locals in the market town.

Kelly alleges each of the ten diners ordered a starter and a main course, consumed them fully, but then refused to pay for anything other than their drinks. She claimed they then "barged past" the pub's chefs before departing in two cars. The 49-year-old woman, who has been the landlady at the pub for eight years, expressed her shock at the "brazen" act of "selfishness". It comes after a waiter sat down to eat cheese during his break, and moments later he was dying.

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Gwent Police have now confirmed they are investigating an allegation of theft. A spokesperson for the force stated: "We're investigating an allegation of theft in Usk Road, Llantrisant, which occurred around 3pm on Sunday 27 July. Officers are speaking to several people to establish the circumstances and enquiries continue."

Kelly, who contacted Gwent Police straight after the incident, said: "They looked at me as they were walking out as if to say, 'you can't do anything anyway so, tough'.

"When they first came in they were not particularly nice to begin with. I had explained to them it was table service but they kept insisting on coming up to the bar. That kind of thing. They were gonna do it their way. So they ordered starters, mains and ate all the starters, then half way through their mains the waiter went to check if everything was ok, and they said, 'no it is all s**t. Everything is s**t. It is all just shocking'.

"Then the waiter said 'do you want me to get the manager' to which they said, 'yes, but after we have finished'. They proceeded to eat everything. We had 150 people in house, and 140 of them left happy. Everybody, was happy.

"I was then called and I said 'they are going to have to come and speak with me. I want full payment - they have eaten everything'. The waiter told them this and they replied with 'no - we are not paying. We will pay for the drinks but we are not paying for the food'. This was obviously unacceptable.

"All of a sudden they started walking out. I went straight to the table with the card machine to say 'you need to pay this bill' - it was £328 worth. They put £44 on the table in cash, and walked out. I followed them down the path with some of my chefs as they are bigger than me, and one of the older guys in the family started fronting up the chefs."

The manager continued: "The chefs just said 'look, you are an embarrassment, just pay the bill'. There was not a fist fight or anything, it was mainly verbal. As I was shouting 'you need to pay your bill' they got in the car and left the property."

Kelly told Wales Online said there had been a tremendous reaction on social media after she shared details of what happened. She explained the post was designed to "embarrassing" those supposedly involved, stating: "It is not the way to behave." She continued: "But the response I had on Facebook was just phenomenal. Everybody is so supportive."