Thousands of stolen pies worth £25,000 have to be binned

The hunt for a Michelin-starred chef’s 2,500 stolen pies ended yesterday with the goods being found…and binned.

Tommy Banks put out a public appeal when his refrigerated van containing £25,000 of stock, due to be sold at a Christmas market, was stolen from a business park after being parked up last Friday.

The Yorkshire chef, who owns two restaurants with a Michelin star, said the mystery of his missing pies had been likened to a ‘Wallace and Gromit sketch’ and he was ‘trying to find a bit of humour in it.’

He said he believed the thieves would have had no idea what was in the back when they drove off with his Fiat Ducato van and urged them to ‘drop the pies off somewhere’ so they could go to ‘people who need food’ and are ‘not wasted.’

The van theft was discovered by a member of staff on Monday morning.

But sadly the missing pies didn’t have a happy ending.

North Yorkshire Police announced the stolen van with false number plates had in fact been found and recovered by Cleveland Police on Friday night, within hours of the theft, and abandoned 35 miles away in Middlesbrough.

A spokesman said: ‘An investigation is ongoing into the theft and anyone who has any information is asked to get in touch.’

Mr Banks revealed on Instagram the insured van ‘is badly damaged and will almost certainly be written off.’

He added: ‘The pies are on the van but have been damaged and not refrigerated so are also written off unfortunately. Not the ending to this story I was hoping for.

‘The whole thing is a total write off to be honest, which is a real shame.’

He thanked the public for helping to ‘find these pies’ and offers of help from the business owners.

Mr Banks said he had ‘learnt a few lessons and won’t be leaving stock in our vans overnight for sure.’

The pies that had been baked with ‘love and care’ by his team, included steak and ale, turkey and butternut squash pies. The van also contained gravy and custard and it was all destined for York Christmas Market.

Mr Banks, who runs restaurants The Black Swan at Oldstead and Roots in York, said he was upset so much food had gone to waste.

He told the BBC: ‘I don't think the guys who stole the van were necessarily trying to steal pies. I think they were trying to steal a van and the pies were just collateral.’

Adding: ‘A van is a van, but the amount of work that goes into making pies is huge.’