Stamford takeaway Zorba's TikTok video of vinegar thief gets 78,000 views

A sneaky vinegar thief has given a TikTok viral takeaway another taste of fame.

Owner of Zorba in Broad Street, Stamford, Cihan Kaya, was surprised on Sunday morning to find that the bottle of vinegar usually kept on the counter was gone.

Keen to find the culprit he scrolled through the takeaway's CCTV and it was there he discovered the sneaky thief, who by the looks of it had his first taste for crime on that very night.

Faced with the dilemma of being left without vinegar - which is essential to go with salt on a tray of chips - Cihan posted a TikTok video apologising for "not being able to vinegar your chips".

He added a song with the lyrics: 'Thief you came by in the night and took everything away from me'.

While most people's food of choice after a heavy night drinking is a kebab or a greasy burger, this petty criminal's love for vinegar is rather bizarre - he didn't even order a meal to go with it.

And there's no accounting for the vinegar being stolen for his accomplice's pizza because vinegar on a pizza is even more controversial than putting pineapple on one! Either embarrassed by his friend's actions or by viewers curious if he puts vinegar on pizza, he has since begged Zorba to blur his face in the video.

"I'm not sure why he nicked vinegar rather than any of the other things," admitted Cihan.

He added that if it was a sauce that was stolen 'he probably could have gotten away with it'.

The man was proudly sporting a Stamford Rugby Club tie, clearly celebrating after the club's victory against local rivals Oakham earlier that day.

Zorba is in fact a sponsor of the rugby club, but Cihan said this doesn't mean they are entitled to free food or drinks, let alone condiments.

Jai Nairn, president of Stamford Rugby Club, said he will be reminding players they should not 'borrow' any food from the popular town takeaway.

He added: "It's all in the spirit of good humour and we will make sure the vinegar bottle is returned correctly.

"We had a good start to the season so we had high spirits and high vinegar!"

There is no bad blood - or ketchup - between the two as Cihan said: "Luckily Stamford Rugby Club is one of our favourite teams in the town."

Although rival sports teams should note they may not get off as lightly.

Stamford Rugby Club's sneaky thief isn't the first culprit, as revellers seem to make a habit of taking condiments home as a drunken souvenir.

But still basking in the fame of its viral TikTok video which gained 29 million views, this time the social media experts took the opportunity to create another popular post.

The CCTV footage has now gained almost 78,000 views and has been shared hundreds of times - no doubt a few times into the rugby team's group chat!