Woman 'stole £170 meal by planting plastic in food then refusing to pay’

Watch: Female diner appears to 'plant' piece of plastic in her food before refusing to pay

This is the moment a female diner appears to remove a piece of plastic hidden from her bra then place it in her food to avoid paying a £170 bill, according to a curry house boss.

The suspected “con artist” was captured on CCTV at the Namji restaurant in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, apparently tearing the wrapper off a cigarette packet she'd stored in her underwear and placing it in her bowl of chicken curry.

Restaurant owner Naseem Khan, 44, said the family of five had “woofed down” their pricey dinner at the establishment on Monday afternoon,

But when the bill arrived, they reportedly made threats and stormed out while complaining about the “plastic” in their food – even after being offered a 20% discount.

Ms Khan, dubbed the ‘Queen of Curry’ due to her work with homeless people, said she would have given the family free meals if they couldn’t afford them.

She said: “She obviously did a lot of planning beforehand.

"You could say, 'This is somebody who is not happy with the food,' but they woofed down the food and nothing was left at the end – they ate everything.

“Doing this in front of kids is not acceptable in this society.

“If she was struggling with money, she could have come to me and I would have given her food for free. But she didn’t do that.”

The family’s bill shows they ordered four starters, seven side dishes, four drinks and six main courses – costing a total of £170.45.

But Ms Khan said they began to complain about their experience as soon as they tucked into their first course.

She added: “This particular couple started to complain about the starters first, but they ate all of them. And when the main food came out, they ate all of it again.

“Later, the woman called the waiter and said there was plastic in her food.”

The family were offered a discount after the husband said he would not pay for the meal but it was after viewing CCTV footage that Ms Khan came to the conclusion that the woman had planted the plastic herself.

A spokesperson for Thames Valley Police confirmed that they were investigating an allegation of theft.

They said: "Officers are investigating and anyone with information should call 101 or make a report on our website.”