A top York chef has spoken out after thieves stole nearly a ton of pies destined for the Christmas market.
They stole a van overnight belonging to restaurateur Tommy Banks filled with 2,500 pies.
The Michelin starred chef, who runs Roots York and the Black Swan at Oldstead, took to Instagram to express his dismay, saying: “We’ve been robbed!”
Video
The pies, worth £25,000, were headed for Tommy’s Pie Shop stall at the York Christmas Market.
His business partner, Matthew Lockwood, travelled to Oldstead to collect the vehicle this morning, to find it’d been taken.
In his video, Tommy told his Instagram followers: “It’s kind of sad, because that’s a lot of meat and a lot of flour and eggs and a lot of work, like so much work.”
Tommy believes that the robbers weren’t aware of the contents of the van. The pies are all branded with his name on and so would be hard to sell on.
During the two-minute video, Tommy appealed to the thieves directly.
He said: “I know the pies are gone. I know you’ve nicked my van. We’re probably not getting it back.
“But you can’t do anything with these pies because they’ve got my name written all over them.
“So, can you drop them off somewhere? Drop them off at a community centre or somewhere, and at least someone could eat them. Someone who needs them could eat them.
“I know you’re a criminal, but maybe just do something nice, because it’s Christmas, and maybe we could feed a few 1,000 people with these pies that you’ve stolen.”
Understandably annoyed, he put in the Insta text “I think you are a thieving piece of sh**” and concluded his message video to the thieves with the words: “I hope you don’t get any presents this Christmas.”
He asked anyone offered the stolen pies to contact the police.
Tommy’s Pie Shop was launched this year, offering luxury pies to Christmas market visitors in the city.
The pie options include, the festive turkey, ham and cranberry pie, a steak and ale pie, and a vegan butternut squash and sage pie.
Tommy owns three restaurants in North Yorkshire, Roots in Marygate, The Black Swan at Oldstead, and The Abbey Inn, in Byland.
If you have any information that could help police about the theft, call them on 101.