Restaurant owner turns sleuth to trap cheese thief

When dairy deliveries started disappearing from a North Yorkshire restaurant, the owner-turned-detective came up with an unusual plan of action.

David Straker, restaurateur at William & Victoria in Harrogate, discovered a hooded thief had been snatching milk, cheese and butter from his outdoor storage box.

Plagued by the thefts for months, he decided to conceal an AirTag tracker in a wheel of Brie to follow the cheese's movements.

For three weeks, the tracker pinged at several addresses in Harrogate, before crossing county lines to Otley and finally settling in Knaresborough on Christmas Eve. Mr Straker now plans to report the evidence to police.

"It started earlier this year, we had a few disappearances from the back of the restaurant where the early deliveries get put," Mr Straker said.

"Especially things like dairy products. We have milk, cream and cheese left at the back of the building in a drop box because they're delivered in the early hours of the morning."

It was only when the chefs checked the invoices and realised they were short of supplies that they checked the cameras.

Footage showed suspects on bikes had followed a delivery truck on to the premises and helped themselves to dairy products a few minutes later.

"Out of my own curiosity, I wanted to find out where this was going," Mr Straker said.

"So we opened up a wheel of Brie and put a tracker inside. I connected it to my phone and then there was a rollercoaster around Yorkshire."

The restaurateur staked out the properties the tracker led him to, noticing the very same bikes caught on CCTV parked outside.

"I think it was on a refrigerator truck and they were trying to sell it," he added.

"I'm not sure whether the battery has gone now or it's been dumped. For three weeks it was better than telly."

Along with his wife Johanna, Mr Straker has compiled a dossier of evidence - including addresses and clear CCTV images - to hand to police.

"People might say it's just a bit of cheese but it's more than that, they're quite expensive items," he said.

"Butter's gone up dramatically, as we all know. Any sort of oil-based stuff has gone up dramatically. When these go missing, it puts a big dent in our business."

Over the Christmas period, the owners were reluctant to bother police but hoped the tracker's movements would now help with an investigation.

"It seemed a bit ridiculous to call them and say we were chasing around Yorkshire after a piece of cheese - they've got bigger fish to fry," Mr Straker said.

"But hopefully they can make some headway and make something of it."

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