Food trail helps catch paella thief

A MAN who stole an 8kg dish of paella from the deli counter of a Nantes supermarket was caught red-handed after police followed a trail of yellow rice back to his home.

A supermarket worker alerted police when they saw the man running away from the store near closing time, carrying a large vat of the ready-cooked meal, worth about €150.

Police patrolled a nearby road and found some giveaway traces of the paella outside an apartment block. Inside, they followed the smell to the front door of the man's apartment, where more spilled food was found on the doormat.

Ouest France reports that the man, who was drunk at the time, has admitted to the unusual shoplifting incident and the supermarket has filed a formal police complaint.