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13
Dec 2024
Restaurant owners track stolen cheese across Harrogate
Owners of a Harrogate wine bar and restaurant have tracked a stolen wheel of cheese across the town.
David and Jo Straker of William and Victoria reached the end of their tether after items from their early morning deliveries have been stolen weekly for the last few months.
Dairy items have been stolen by hooded thieves in the early hours of the morning for months and David Straker has caught the looters on camera, installed lock boxes and even changed delivery patterns to put them off.
Still, the cheese thieves returned.
In a last-ditch attempt to catch those behind the theft Mr Straker decided to place an Apple AirTag, a tracking device, inside a wheel of brie.
When the large cheese wheel arrived at their Cold Bath Road venue Mr Straker decided it would attract the thieves and cut a groove inside the wheel, placed the AirTag inside and put the cheese back outside to set the trap.
William and Victoria - commonly known as Will & Vic's - on Cold Bath Road.
At 7.30am on Friday the cheese, which costs around £10, was stolen by two men on bikes and the team began tracking it.
They watched it arrive at a property near Asda and then saw it moved to Dragon Parade the following day.
The AirTag then appeared to be moving through town and landed near Wesley Chapel in Harrogate town centre before reaching its final destination on Monday – a house on Ripon Road.
The owners of Willam and Victoria alerted the Stray Ferret to the brie chase and Mr Straker said:
It is ridiculous idea that I had but it was either keep watch all night or track it. I don’t know if they’ve found the airtag, but we know where the cheese is and my next step is to alert the police, I’m reluctant to knock on the door.
It might be comical, but we have done it out of frustration because our things keep being stolen. It is likely down to the cost-of-living crisis, but it is hard for everyone, especially businesses.
It would be easy for them to follow our delivery drivers here and then sell it on. I wouldn’t want to eat the cheese after seeing where it has been now.
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