Chef pleads with thieves who nicked 2500 Christmas pies

A British chef has urged thieves who stole a van with 2500 savoury pies inside to "do the right thing" and donate the edible loot to the needy.

Tommy Banks, who owns two Michelin-starred restaurants and a pub in the northern English county of Yorkshire, said a member of staff discovered the van was missing, along with its cargo of steak and ale, turkey and butternut squash pies intended for a Christmas market in the city of York.

The "nearly a tonne" of food has been valued at Stg25,000 ($A49,000).

Banks said the van was insured, but he implored the vehicle thieves not to let the food go to waste.

In an Instagram video, he suggested they drop the pies at a community centre or other venue.

"I know you're a criminal, but maybe just do something nice because it's Christmas and maybe we can feed a few thousand people with these pies that you've stolen. Do the right thing," he said.

The pie heist is the latest theft of artisanal edibles to rock the UK food trade.

In October, nearly 1000 wheels of cloth-wrapped artisanal cheddar weighing 22 tonnes and valued at Stg300,000 were swiped from London's Neal's Yard Dairy by a con artist posing as a wholesale distributor for a major French retailer.

Despite a hunt by British and international police - and an appeal by TV chef Jamie Oliver - the cheese has not been found.

A 63-year-old man was arrested and questioned by police, but has not been charged.