Brit arrested after ‘refusing to pay £10k restaurant bill’ | UK | News

An elderly British man has been arrested after refusing to pay a £10,500 Ibiza restaurant bill.

The 77-year-old tourist was held along with five women all aged under 40 accompanying him at the table.

The group allegedly tried to get out of paying by claiming a seventh person who had left a few minutes earlier had invited them to dine out.

The relationship between the British man and his female companions, two Argentinian women, two Polish women and a Greek lady, was not made clear by police.

The restaurant has not been named.

A spokesman for Spain’s National Police, which released pictures of the group including the Brit in a matching Hawaiian-style top and shorts, said today: “Officers in Ibiza have arrested six people, a British man aged 77 and five women aged 24 to 39, two Argentinians, one Greek national and two Polish ladies, as the suspected authors of a crime of fraud for refusing to pay for dinner in a restaurant on the island.

“The group dined out, consuming high-value meals and drinks, before refusing to pay the bill which came to nearly £10,500 (€12,300).

“Restaurant staff called police who questioned the employees when they arrived.

“They told the officers the customers had alluded to a supposed invitation by a seventh person who according to the individuals had left ten minutes earlier and had reserved the table for them and also invited them to dinner.

“They continued to refuse to pay without offering any alternative explanation to their alleged pretend excuse to evade their responsibility.

“That led to their arrests.”

All six are understood to have already appeared before a judge, although it was not clear today what the outcome of the court appearance was.

They were arrested in the early hours of Thursday.