Les Enfants Terribles in Weymouth were forced to foot the cost for a group of 12 customers, including adults with children in pushchairs, after they steadily left the table until there was no one left to pay.

This act, commonly nicknamed ‘dine and dash’, is classed as a form of fraud and can have incredibly negative effects on restaurants.

The owner and chef Eric Tavernier, who has been scammed before with this scheme, says his suspicions were raised after the group ordered the most expensive items on the menu, and asked to be seated outside.

He told reporters: ‘I asked the guy to give me some credit card deposit over the phone, and he suddenly said he’s been with us before. Even so, he did not really know where we were.

‘They didn’t really want to come in, they were staying away from the video.’

At this point, he asked again for a deposit for some form of protection, as their order had come to £468 – yet, the chef claims they ‘weren’t really happy to do that’.

Unfortunately, he later discovered an issue with the card they used for the deposit.

Soon after the incident on August 1, the group were then caught in a street fight with other customers, who’d been filming their escape. The police broke up the fracas, but enquiries are still ongoing regarding the unpaid bill.

The restaurant, which describes itself as an ‘unpretentious, cosy bistro specialising in an array of fresh seafood plates with a French influence’, is one of several seafront eateries in the area and Mr Tavernier was worried that they may attempt to do the same elsewhere.

‘I think they knew exactly what they were doing,’ he added.

‘I feel kind of angry for myself but I can’t really do any more about it so what I want is for everybody to know who they are because they will move about as they do and they will go to other places and they will keep doing it.’

Dine-and-dashers can be found guilty of theft and those who are caught dodging their bill can face up to two years’ imprisonment and a fine of up to £1,000.