A British chef's appeal for thieves to return 2500 pies that were in a stolen van has ended in disappointment, with police finding the vehicle abandoned, with its savoury cargo too damaged to eat.

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 food has been valued at £25,000.

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 “do the right thing” and 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," he said.

In an update, Banks said police had found the van, badly damaged and with stolen license plates, in Middlesbrough, about 30 miles (50km) from where it was taken. He said the pies were still inside but were damaged and would have to be discarded.

“It’s just so much waste. It’s just rubbish,” Banks said. “Sorry, it’s not a happier ending to this story.”

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 metric tons (48,488 pounds) and valued at £300,000 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 the cheese has not been found.

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