Dine-and-dash heist leaves tea garden high and dry

A combination of bait and brazen deception saw a couple eat for free at a Heidelberg business' expense.

- Jarryd Westerdale

The Plaashuiswinkel Mediterreens sat with an unpaid bill worth R430 after a cheeky dine-and-dash incident last Friday.

Three people allegedly staged a fake flower delivery, as a man and woman feasted on one of the most expensive items on the boutique tea garden's menu.

Surveillance footage shows one man entered the premises around 3pm, followed by a female companion.

While seated, the couple were joined by a third man who dropped off a pot plant, before leaving shortly after concluding his staged transaction.