A pair of slippery thieves have snatched valuable cooking oil from a popular Ayr takeaway putting businesses on high alert.
Tempura 2go fell victim to the brazen crooks as the price of operating in the hospitality industry has rocketed.
The shady duo helped themselves to a stash of used cooking oil worth around £130 when they swooped in on the Beresford Terrace takeaway on Tuesday.
Chefs at the eatery were confronted by the pair who claimed they were there to collect the cooking oil.
But after being caught out as imposters, the pair separated with one rushing into the van and the other fleeing with the goods on foot.
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A dramatic chase saw the chef track down the thief outside the Odeon cinema but he was cut off by the van driver, with the thief then jumping into the car.
The suspects have been described as young Asian men in their mid to late 20s, driving a white Transit Van.
It is understood the crooks are trying to steal the oil to make bootleg petrol.
Tempura co-owner Brandon Van Rensburg has told of the oil was due to be collected by a firm Oilico who recycle the food waste and use it to create fuel.
The funds from the oil collection are then used to purchase more oil from Oilico, who also supply the chain which has a sit-in restaurants in Ayr and one in Kilmarnock.
Brandon told Ayrshire Live: “Two of our chefs were outside having a chat.
“They noticed someone picking up the oil, one of them just looked up.
“We use Oilico who usually collect our old oil, the chefs realised ‘that’s not them’ and that something dodgy was going on.
“The guy in the van drove off, the other guy just ran with what we had.
“One of the chefs chased him all the way to the Odeon, he tried to block the van and he was nearly run over. He had to jump out of the van. It was pretty crazy. If I was there I would have chased them as well.”
Brandon has told how the value of the oil taken is approximately £130, with 100 litres sitting in each barrel.
Another Ayr restaurant was also targeted on Tuesday. Smoking Goat Bar & Grill were paid a visit by crooks.
But the pair were sussed out by the venues chef who greeted them as they sniffed about the oil drums at the Academy Street haunt.
Concerned boss Smoking Goat David Storrie says oil thieves is the last thing local hospitality businesses amidst soaring energy costs.
David said: “People might think it's just cooking oil, but this is really serious for businesses.
“At times like this we can’t have people nicking our oil. That oil is used then collected and then the money we get for it goes to paying for more oil.
“We go through five or six drums in a week and each drum is worth up to £60.
“We’re going to have to have a rethink about where we store our oil.”
A spokesperson for Police Scotland said: “We received a report of the theft of cooking oil from a premises on Beresford Terrace, Ayr, around 10.30am on Tuesday, October 11.
“Enquiries are ongoing.”
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