Two men leave Darlington restaurant without paying their bill

Two diners spent the afternoon at Bambudda on Gladstone Street, arriving at approximately 3:10pm on Sunday, January 22.

Having spent £65 on food and drinks, one man left while the other “pretended” to go to the loo, before sneaking out.

The two men were only in the pan-Asain restaurant for roughly 20-30 minutes before making off.

Two men left Bambudda in Darlington without paying their bill. The restaurant team then shared these CCTV images on social media (Image: Bambudda Darlington)

Read more: Woman waited 11 HOURS in A&E over fears chest pain could be fatal blood clot

General Manger Lucy Nguyen said: “This has never happened before. We’ve been open a year and a half and no one has ever done this.

“They didn’t book, they just walked in, which is not a problem when we’re quiet. We usually prefer people to book because they have to give their name and bank details but because they didn’t book we have no way of tracing them other than the CCTV images.

“We thought they were acting a bit strangely when they first came in so we decided to keep an eye on them but they must have planned it.

“I know there are people out there who will do this kind of thing but I put the post on (social media) to warn other restaurants because they will probably do this again somewhere else so other businesses need to be made aware of it.”

Bambudda on Gladstone Street in Darlington (Image: Aja Dodd, Newsquest)

Staff from Bambudda in Darlington (Image: Bambudda Darlington)

Read more: How many littered vaping products we found during a short walk in a Darlington park

The two men were captured on CCTV and the restaurant team posted these on Bambudda’s Facebook and Instagram pages.

As a small business, Ms Nguyen was frustrated as times are hard for everyone, however, she emphasised that this had never happened before.

People on Facebook were quick to air their views on the situation in the comments section of Bambudda’s post.

Simon William said: “They new (sic) what they were doing absolute idiots.”

Linda Bowen said: “Somebody will know who they are, absolutely disgusting.”

Bambudda is located on Gladstone Street on the site once occupied by China Red and Mardi Gras nightclub.

The restaurant is open Mondays to Thursdays from 5pm to 10pm, Fridays and Saturdays from 5pm to 11pm, and Sundays 12pm to 9pm.

Read next:

• 'They lived, they worked': Darlington Holocaust Memorial to be held next week
• Darlington MP calls out social media sites for 'exposing' children to drug abuse
• How a new help point in Darlington town centre connects people to CCTV control room

If you want to read more great stories, why not subscribe to The Northern Echo for as little as £1.25 a week. Click here.