A British chef’s plea for thieves to return 2,500 pies stolen from a van ended in disappointment when the police discovered the abandoned vehicle on Tuesday. Unfortunately, the pies had been ruined and were no longer fit for consumption.
Tommy Banks, the owner of two Michelin-starred restaurants and a pub in Yorkshire, was devastated when a staff member noticed the van was missing along with its cargo of pies. The pies, including steak and ale and turkey and butternut squash varieties, were intended for a Christmas market in York. The total value of the food was estimated at £25,000 ($32,000).
Although the van was insured, Banks made a heartfelt appeal to the thieves, asking them to ensure the food didn’t go to waste. In a video shared on Instagram, he urged them to do the right thing and drop the pies off at a community center or similar location.
Later, Banks provided an update stating that police had located the van, though it had been severely damaged and had stolen license plates. The pies were still inside but were no longer salvageable and would have to be thrown away.
In a video shared on Instagram, Tommy Banks expressed his frustration over the loss of the pies, saying, “It’s just so much waste. It’s just rubbish.” He apologized that the story didn’t have a happier ending.
The stolen pies are part of a growing trend of thefts targeting high-end food products in the U.K. Earlier this year, in October, nearly 1,000 wheels of artisanal cheddar cheese, weighing 22 metric tons (48,488 pounds) and valued at £300,000 ($390,000), were stolen from London’s Neal’s Yard Dairy. The thief, a man posing as a wholesale distributor for a major French retailer, managed to pull off the heist.
Despite efforts by both British and international law enforcement, and a public appeal by celebrity chef Jamie Oliver, the stolen cheese has not been recovered. A 63-year-old man was arrested and questioned in connection with the theft but has not been charged.
