NORTHWICH officers have released a CCTV image of a man they would like to speak to following reports of a hate crime and criminal damage at Zitano restaurant.

The incident occurred at approximately 10.40pm on Saturday, July 22, when two men and two women entered Zitano on Northwich High Street.

On entering the premises the group, who all appeared to be intoxicated, sat down and asked for drinks to be brought to their table. The waiter told the group were told that they would need to order their drinks at the bar, at which point one of the men became aggressive and damaged a phone belonging to the owners.

The man, along with the rest of the group, then walked out of the bar, shouting hate abuse relating to sexuality at the owner before damaging two signs which were outside the premises. The group then walked away in the direction of Northwich town centre.

PC Mark Brameld said: “We take incidents of this nature extremely seriously and will not tolerate hate crime within our community. The victim was left extremely distressed as a result of the abuse that was shouted towards him and we are keen to trace the person responsible.

“Investigations into this incident are currently ongoing and as part of this I am keen to speak to the man featured in the CCTV image as I believe that he may hold vital information in relation to the investigation.

“I urge the man, or anyone who recognises him, to contact the team here at Northwich on 101 quoting incident number 1025 of 22/07/2017.”

Information can also be reported anonymously, via Crimestoppers, on 0800 555 111.