Estate agent sacked for 'stealing chocolate bar' during viewing

The camera which captured the apparent theft is activated by movement

An estate agent was sacked after being caught on camera apparently stealing a bar of chocolate while showing a client around a flat.

The outgoing tenant of the flat in Walthamstow, east London, was testing the motion-activated camera, which he intended to use in his new home.

Jon Charter said it felt like "a complete betrayal".

Your Move Sterling & Co said the employee in question no longer worked for them.

The footage, recorded on Friday, shows a viewer walking ahead of the agent, who is at the door of the room where the camera is placed.

The agent is then seen coming back into the room, taking the bar of chocolate and putting it in his coat pocket.

Mr Charter said: "I set up the camera so that they would all be working when we moved to our new house.

The agent was seen taking the chocolate bar and pocketing it before heading out

"I got alerted by email that there was movement and sound in my flat and it starts recording remotely straight away.

"I then started to watch this and saw the theft. I felt it was a complete betrayal and wondered what else could have happened to others and myself previously."

He said the agent later apologised via text message, claiming that he had been suffering from dizziness and needed the sugar in the chocolate bar.

Manish Somani, director of Your Move Sterling & Co said: "We are very serious about the protection of our reputation and brand.

"Therefore as soon as we were made aware of this incident action was taken and the employee is no longer working for us.

"We have also apologised to both the tenant and landlord for this unfortunate incident. The landlord has fully accepted this apology and the tenant has accepted a payment as a goodwill gesture for both the chocolate bar and any inconvenience caused."