This is the moment a dine-and-dasher appears to pluck hair from his head and put it in his food to avoid paying for the bill, just months before the same stunt was pulled at a different restaurant.
CCTV from inside The Clover Club, in Newquay, Cornwall, shows a male, in a white t-shirt and blue shorts, pulling strands of hair from his head and sprinkling them over his bowl of chips.
The diner was seated with another man, in a dark-coloured jumper and shorts, who is seen leaving the table as his accomplice pulled off the stunt.
Owner of the independent restaurant, Charlie Hester, said they refused to pay for their £70 bill and began swearing at staff before he asked them to leave.
The incident last July mirrors what took place earlier this month at The Dial, in Burton on Trent, Staffordshire, where two men refused to pay for their £165 bill after appearing to sprinkle their own hair over their steak.
Mr Hester, 29, fears it could be the same duo travelling around the country playing the trick to con innocent restaurants.
He said he thought it was 'crazy' when he saw a video on TikTok shared by The Dial restaurant earlier this month and told everyone at work.
Mr Hester said he immediately recognised the two diners as 'it was the same motion of him grabbing his head'.
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CCTV from inside The Clover Club, in Newquay, Cornwall, appears to show a male, in a white t-shirt and blue shorts, pulling strands from his head and sprinkling them over his bowl of chips
The two male diners are later seen talking to the restaurant's owner Charlie Hester where they refuse to pay for their £70 bill
'I went to work and told everyone, it was pretty crazy,' he said. 'There was no doubt other restaurants would recognise them. Clearly, that's all they do: go around, eat in restaurants and walk out.
'I've been in hospitality since I was 15, I know what a hair in food looks like. It would be in it, not on top.
'I find it quite silly because it's an absolutely ridiculous thing to do. It's crazy what people do to just get a free meal.
'They had a relatively average amount of food. It's even more laughable, they didn't get a crazy amount of food.'
The hospitality worker fears the two men are doing the same thing to other independent businesses and that things like this make the industry struggle.
He said: 'I can't believe there are people who go around, going into small independent businesses and stealing from them.
'The fact that two restaurants have CCTV of it might mean something will come out of it.
'Hospitality at the moment is one of the most challenging industries and this is another factor why restaurants are struggling so much at the moment.
'I can't imagine what it's like in busier cities. There are so many people trying to get things for free.'
The restaurant owner wants to raise awareness and warn other independent businesses - since the two incidents are seven months apart and stretch across the country.
Talking about the incident last July, Mr Hester said: 'They walked in, didn't make a reservation, they were actually quite polite to start with. I guess that's what they do to trick you.
The incident last July mirrors what took place earlier this month at The Dial, in Burton on Trent, Staffordshire, where two men refused to pay for their £165 bill after appearing to sprinkle their own hair over their steak
The men arrived at the Dial Restaurant in Burton-upon-Trent, Staffordshire on February 11 with seemingly no intention of paying for their food
In farcical scenes the man appears to sprinkle hair into his food - and even seems to inspect it to ensure he is satisfied with his work
'They got some cocktails. They spent around £70, they were eating their food, and then the guy complained there was hair in his food. It was like a clump of hair on his bowl of chips.
'He said "I'm not paying for it". I said I can take his chips off the bill because that's what had the hair in it, but they ate all the other food so they will be paying.
'He probably didn't realise I'm the owner so I'm going to be a bit more argumentative. I argued with him for quite a while and then told him it's time to go.
'I thought I'd flip through the CCTV to see what happened and he literally pulls a hair from his head and puts it in his bowl of chips.
'They refused to pay, they said they hated everything. They just walked out. In the end they started swearing and that's when I thought, "I can't be arsed with this anymore".
'We had a full restaurant so everyone knew what was going on.'
Last week, general manager Jez Hives, from The Dial, said he thinks the 'dine and dash' at his establishment was premeditated and other restaurants near him had claimed they'd been hit with similar incidents.
He said: 'It's unbelievable. I've been doing this for 25 years and at The Dial and I've never witnessed anything so mind-boggling as to why they'd do that.
'It's just another hoop we have to jump through in hospitality to try and survive. It's really tough.
'The staff knew something was amiss. We know we do things right in the kitchen, all the chefs wear hats.
'It was very argumentative words coming out of their mouths. I think they just wanted to shock and leg it.
'I was in shock. He actually does it three times. It's so brazen it must be something he does, he must have bald patches all over his head.
'Even to think of doing that is just awful. Unbelievable, it was definitely premeditated.'
Neither incident was reported to the police.
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