Greater Manchester Police has since issued an appeal after the incident in Manchester city centre
The staff member chased after the dine and dashers
The owners of a Chinatown restaurant said they feel they are ‘being targeted again and again’ after a staff member was reportedly assaulted when a customer attempted to flee without paying.
Noodle Alley, on Faulkner Street, shared CCTV footage on their social media page of an incident where the owners claimed a young staff member was attacked after a customer left without paying for their food.
The incident is believed to have taken place at the city centre restaurant on Sunday, September 27 just after 6pm. In the footage, a staff member is seen running up the stairs after three customers. It is also reported that the staff member was taken to A&E.
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In the post, the restaurant owners asked: “What has the world come to? A violent man sent our staff to A&E over an unpaid meal.” The post also included images of the staff members’ injuries to her arm and elbow.
The post went on to say: “We’re a small family business, and lately it feels like small businesses are being targeted again and again. But this time, it went far beyond anything we have experienced before.
“One of our young staff members — a girl simply doing her job — was assaulted after going beyond her duty to try to recover what had been taken from our restaurant. She ended up in A&E.
“What hurts us most is seeing how emotionally affected she has been by what happened. She told us she had treated them kindly and never expected that kindness to come back to her like this.
“We work hard to look after our staff and our customers, and nobody should have to go through this simply for doing their job. We have reported the incident to the police.”
Greater Manchester Police has released an image of a man they would like to speak to. Officers say they believe he can help with their investigations.
Anyone with information is asked to contact us on 101, on LiveChat or via the reporting mechanisms on our website quoting CRI/06A2/0030137/26. Alternatively call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
In a previous statement, a spokesperson for Greater Manchester Police said: “Officers received reports of an assault and a pair making off without paying a bill from a restaurant on Faulkner Street. No arrests have been made at this stage and enquiries are on-going.”
Noodle Alley, which specialises in Szechuan-style street food dishes, first opened its doors three years ago in the former China City spot. Run by owners Wendy and Ken Chen, the pair said they wanted to ‘share the food’ they grew up on, and add to the variety on offer in Chinatown.
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Following their reports of the incident, customers took to social media to share their support for the venue. One person said: “Omg this makes me so sad to see. I love your restaurant so much, you don’t deserve this!”
Another posted: “Unbelievable. We really hope your staff member is OK.” One other commented: “we’re so sorry, you guys are always SO EXCELLENT.”
It’s the latest incident for the Noodle Alley restaurant in as much as six weeks, with owners Wendy and Ken Chen previously speaking to the Manchester Evening News back in August after a customer left without paying.
Earlier this year, Noodle Alley was nominated for Affordable Eats Venue of the Year at the Manchester Food and Drink Festival Awards, with the honour later going to popular pizza spot Double Zero.
