Huge update in 'dine and dashers' restaurant scam which sparked widespread public fury

Dramatic CCTV from late April shows customers confronting the two alleged dine and dashers (Image: SWNS)

Essex Police has confirmed that two people were detained during their probe into the shocking 'dine and dash' restaurant scam which has plagued south Essex in recent months. Restaurant owners, pub landlords and taxi cab drivers have all reportedly fallen victim to the serial "dine and dashers". Businesses across the area have lost hundreds of pounds to the couple who flee before paying the bill. 

The arrested couple are believed to be a pair previously named locally as former solicitor Kerry Ann Stevens, 38, and electrician boyfriend Daniel Alani, 39. Essex Police arrested the couple when they arrived at an address in Great Wakering, near Southend, on Thursday.

The pair were taken into custody and questioned on suspicion of three counts of making off without payment. They were subsequently released on conditional bail until late July.

The bail conditions forbid them from attending "any licenced premises in which food is served where that food cannot be purchased before consumption".

The arrest follows several shocking reports of the serial 'dine and dashers' in the area, including one incident caught on camera.

Dramatic CCTV from late April shows loyal customers at the Castle Inn in Little Wakering confronting the two alleged dine and dashers after they tried to flee a pub without paying a £62 bill.

Businesses across Southend have been fleeced out of hundreds of pounds by a couple in recent months (Image: Getty)

During the "stressful" incident, Ken Todd, 76, the landlord of the Castle Inn, called the police who arrived and took the couple's details. However, the couple were ultimately free to leave because the landlord deemed it "not worth pursuing for £60".

He later described the tense standoff in his pub: "To think that people would even try and do that, it is upsetting. For the sake of £62, if they came in and were starving I'd just give them the food. Other customers helped my staff to stop them from leaving - the man was being very loud and it became a heated situation.

"We kept them talking for a good hour and some people accused them of being serial offenders. The customers blocked the entrance and were checking who was coming in and out. It is a very stressful situation and it is difficult to deal with both at the time and afterwards but we'll carry on - we're lucky it was £60 and not £300."

Ken Todd, 76, the landlord of the Castle Inn, called the police during the tense standoff (Image: GOOGLE MAPS)

The Pearl Dragon restaurant, in Eastern Esplanade, and more than ten taxi drivers in the area have all reportedly fallen victim to the couple. 

Sergeant Carly Boitoult, of the Southend Town Centre Team, said: "The hospitality sector in Southend and in the surrounding area is incredibly important to the city's overall offer to its residents and visitors and we will always do all we can to help them if they report a crime to us."