Sheffield restaurant is looking for a family who walked out without paying

Watch: A family of four caught walking out of a restaurant without paying

This is the moment a family of four were caught walking out of an Italian restaurant without paying – while unsuspecting staff prepared their desserts.

The group can be seen on CCTV footage apparently leaving Vito’s in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, on Sunday night before paying their £60 bill.

Chef Vito Ciaraolo, 59, who has owned the restaurant for 32 years, claims the man and woman in the footage – who were joined by two children – checked the cameras as they sat down at the table.

The family arrived at the restaurant at 6pm on April 23 and ordered olives, three pizzas and an aubergine dish as mains, a fruit juice and three soft drinks, racking up a bill of £60.95.

But when they finished their feed, CCTV footage shows the woman – dressed in black – getting up from her chair and leading the children away from the table.

The man, in a blue T-shirt, then orders desserts before walking out while the waitress is distracted.

Ciaraolo said the staff didn’t know the family, who chose to sit at a table near the door before starting to place their orders.

He described their actions as “frustrating” and that the couple set a bad example for their children.

Ciaraolo said: “It’s very frustrating. You can imagine what I would do if I caught them. But there was nothing I could do.

“The waitress made an order in the kitchen. She said they ordered three desserts, but the children and the woman had left and it was only the man in the restaurant.

“I said to the waitress, ‘Go upstairs. I think they will make a runner.

“I realized I was up to something. But when she went up, a minute later, they were gone.”

Ciaraolo now hopes the footage will help find the family and that if they end up paying for the meal, the money will be donated to charity.

He added: “I’ve been here 32 years and it’s only the second time it’s happened. But if that guy pays it back, I’ll give that money to charity.”

Ciaraolo has not yet reported the incident to the police.