Landlord Alan Dreja pictured at the site of a missing urinal

The man is thought to have spent 40 minutes removing the white toilet bowl after ordering half a pint at the Royal Oak pub in Southampton.

He then stuffed the urinal in a rucksack and left the pub making sure he wiped his fingerprints off the door as he went.

But his exploits were caught on CCTV and after reviewing the tape landlord Alan Dreja handed it over to police.

"It's unbelievable," said Mr Dreja, 46, who has been landlord at the Royal Oak in Houndwell Place for two years.

'Professional job'

His wife Suzie Dreja added: "We were stunned as he did it at about 5pm.

"He had wandered in and ordered half a pint of Fosters, took a few sips and went into the toilet a few times.

The suspect was captured on CCTV with a bulging rucksack

"He did a very professional job. He turned off the stop cock and capped off the pipe.

"Our staff had thought we had taken it off for repair and it was not until the evening we noticed.

"After we realised, we looked at the CCTV and saw him go in with a flat rucksack and come out with it bulging. He actually wiped his fingerprints off the door as he left."

A spokesman for Hampshire police said: "It is a very unusual theft and we would like to speak to the man captured on the CCTV.

"It was clearly a very professional job," he added.