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.

But police found the van near the Hemlington area of Middlesbrough, which had been abandoned after a crash, with the unrefrigerated pies now ruined.

"The van has been found with fake plates on it by police but is badly damaged and will almost certainly have to be written off. The pies are on the van but have been damaged and not refrigerated so are also unwritten off unfortunately. Not the ending to this story I was hoping for," Banks said in a post online.

With AAP.

Image: Instagram/@tommybanks