A bathroom thief has left landlords in shock after he nicked almost everything from a pub loo, down to the locks on the doors.

Employees at the Ship Inn pub in Ripley, Surrey, say they were targeted late last month by a man who headed straight for the gents and didn’t come out for over an hour.

When staff went inside, they found the urinals clogged with toilet paper and everything they had bought was missing.

This included hand soap, toilet roll, hand towels, plants, lotion, and a couple of signs from the wall.

CCTV showed a man, whom staff suspect to be the culprit, with a backpack entering and leaving the premises without buying a drink.

Rebecca Laken, 46, who took over the pub around two-and-a-half years ago, said: ‘We didn’t see him come in. He went straight to the gents, and he locked himself in the cubicle.

‘He stole all the bits and pieces in the men’s toilet. It was a shock. I was really upset actually, because it was stuff that we purchased for the pub. It comes out of our pocket.

‘We try and make the pub look homely and pretty and special. To have that happen is not nice; it is very upsetting.’

The landlady says the theft happened on Wednesday, October 28, just before 6pm.

She and her partner were at a village meeting at the time, and didn’t find out until they got back.

The items stolen are estimated to only be worth around £35 – but Rebecca says the issue is the principle.

They are unsure who the thief is, but it is alleged that he also targeted other public toilets, including the ones on Ripley Green.

There was not much available to steal, so it is claimed that he unscrewed the locks from the doors and took these.

Rebecca added: ‘It is not a great deal of money lost, but we are fairly new, and each month we put things in to make it a bit more special.

‘It is a 500-year-old pub, and we try and look after it, but then you have got people who don’t treat it very well. Nothing like this has ever happened under our reign. It was just bizarre.

‘There are a lot of theories from the locals floating around that he needed the stuff or didn’t have much for himself, but he looked well-dressed on the CCTV.’

A spokesperson from Surrey Police said: ‘We received a report of theft from The Ship Inn in Ripley that took place on the evening of Wednesday, 28 October.

‘The incident involved a man locking himself in the men’s toilets before stealing a number of items including toiletries, signs & artificial pot plants. Our enquiries are ongoing.’

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