A restaurant has given an ultimatum to a party of 14 customers who walked out without paying their £400 bill.
Staff at Rokka in Bromborough, Wirral, said a group of diners scarpered without paying their £404 bill after eating in the restaurant on Saturday night, according to Liverpool Echo.
Restaurant bosses have now given the group an ultimatum to come back and pay up or they will go to the police and release CCTV images of them online.
In a post shared on the restaurant's Instagram page, they said: "Unfortunately tonight we have had a party of 14 leave an unpaid bill of over £400.
"They received the same great service and good quality good as all our paying customers this evening.
"We are giving this table the benefit of the doubt, to pay within 48 hours before we report this incident to the police and release their images on our social media.
"We are an independently run business with a small team and we work hard to get where we are and we deserve better than this."
Christina, 35, who works as front of house in the restaurant, said the cheque is more money than she earns in a week and the situation has left the whole team feeling "deflated."
She helped to serve the group on Saturday night, and said the booking was originally made for ten people but when 14 of them arrived the restaurant moved tables and chairs to accommodate this.
The staff member said: "We are a very small independent business. We only have 14 tables so what they did last night – we turned people away for them because we didn't have room for them because they took extra tables and extra chairs – so we've lost paying customers as well as losing £400."
When it came to paying the bill, Christina said four men from the group came to the counter to pay rather than waiting at their table for it to be brought to them.
In the meantime, the rest of the party reportedly left the restaurant and got into cars outside.
Christina said: "When they've asked for the bill they've seen the price of it, they've proceeded to barter the price of the bill down saying they're not paying that.
"Everything off their plates was gone. There was no food left over, they sent nothing back.
"It's only upon paying the bill that the issue happens."
She said the group complained that they didn't like the food, that some of it was burnt and that they were missing a meal.
After the restaurant refused to take money off the bill, Christina said some of the men became aggressive and starting shouting at the staff, including two 15-year-old waitresses who work there at weekends.
She said: "Three of them left and one who was left, he just wanted to pay for his own family's food but then I think he thought he was being left behind because the rest of the party was trying to get out of the door.
"He said I have £150 – the bill was over £400. I said 'pay that then and we'll discuss how you can pay for the rest of the bill.'
"He said he needed a cash machine, I followed him outside because he was trying to get away as well.
"I said 'you don't need a cash machine we take card payments' and as I turned around to direct him back into the restaurant he jumps in a car and he makes his exit."
Christina said the man called the restaurant after he left to apologise and said he would return to the restaurant at 11.30am in the morning with all of the money for the bill – but he never turned up.
She added: "We feel really deflated, we work extremely hard.
"It's called hospitality for a reason we want you to come in, we want you to have a nice time. If there's a problem we want to fix it but when we have tables like that it affects the rest of the restaurant and the rest of our customers who are trying to have a nice time."
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