The 40-year-old woman insisted that she had “only checked the firmness” of the buns by “pressing lightly with my hand”, the BBC reports.

However, she was arrested in Fukuoka after the owner of the Lawson store pursued her down the street for more than half a mile and then restrained her.

He said he asked the woman to pay for the allegedly damaged bag of four black sesame and cream cheese buns, priced at 180 yen (around €1.15 or 95p), but she refused.

He also claimed that he had seen the woman squashing his buns on previous occasions.