UK police recover stolen van with 2500 pies
A British chef’s appeal for thieves to return 2500 pies that were in a stolen van has ended in disappointment when police found the vehicle abandoned, with its savoury cargo too damaged to eat.
Tommy Banks, who owns two Michelin-starred restaurants and a pub in the northern English county of Yorkshire, said a member of staff discovered the van was missing along with its cargo of steak and ale, turkey and butternut squash pies intended for a Christmas market in the city of York.
The food has been valued at 25,000 pounds ($A49,000).
Banks said the van was insured but he implored the vehicle thieves not to let the food go to waste.
In an Instagram video, he suggested they “do the right thing” and drop the pies at a community centre or other venue.
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Banks later said police had found the van, badly damaged and with stolen licence plates, in Middlesbrough – about 50km from where it was taken.
He said the pies were still inside but were damaged and would have to be discarded.
“It’s just so much waste. It’s just rubbish,” Banks said in a video on Instagram.
“Sorry, it’s not a happier ending to this story.”
