'Dine and dashers' flee seafood restaurant refusing to pay their £400 bill after complaining that their lobster tasted 'earthy'

By OLIVIA CHRISTIE, NEWS REPORTER Published: 07:54, 3 July 2026 | Updated: 07:55, 3 July 2026 A group of 'dine and dashers' allegedly fled a seafood and steak restaurant refusing to pay their £400 bill after complaining the lobster tasted 'earthy'.  CCTV images show the party tucking into their meal at Aegean Breeze Seafood & Steak House on Friary Walk in Worcester at about 3pm on Saturday. However, Paul Faulkner, the restaurant's operations director, said the group then became 'hostile' and left without paying two hours later.   He said they had complained about the taste of the lobster in the shellfish platter, with staff first offering to deduct £5 for the lobster then £79 for the full cost of the dish.  Faulkner claimed both options were refused and the group then walked out without paying for anything on the £396 receipt.  Aegean Breeze Seafood & Steak House has been highly rated on TripAdvisor after opening in Worcester just ten months ago.  CCTV images show the party of six people tucking into their meal at Aegean Breeze Seafood & Steak House on Friary Walk in Worcester at about 3pm on Saturday Paul Faulkner, the restaurant's operations director, said the group then became 'hostile' and left without paying two hours later West Mercia Police confirmed they were investigating a case of people making off without payment from a restaurant Staff told the BBC the restaurant had never previously experienced a walkout and their customers were 'generally well-behaved'. They have shared CCTV images on social media to help other local businesses recognise those involved.  'We would like to make fellow businesses across Worcestershire and the surrounding areas aware of an unfortunate incident that took place at our restaurant on Saturday, 27th June, at approximately 5:00 pm,' the restaurant said.  'A group of six individuals deliberately left without paying for their food and drinks, resulting in an unpaid bill of nearly £400. 'We are sharing CCTV images to help other local businesses recognise these individuals and remain vigilant, as we believe this was a deliberate act. 'We would also like to sincerely apologise to all of our customers who were dining with us at the time and witnessed the incident.  'We understand it may have been upsetting to see.  'We want to reassure everyone that, as far as we are aware, this incident had nothing to do with the quality of our food or our service, but was simply the result of the actions of these individuals.' West Mercia Police confirmed they were investigating a case of people making off without payment from a restaurant.  A spokesperson said: 'We received a call around 17:15 BST on Saturday with a report of people making off without payment from a restaurant on Friary Walk in Worcester. No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.