The television chef Antony Worrall Thompson has apologised to his family and friends after being arrested for shoplifting from a Tesco supermarket, saying he would seek treatment.

The 60-year-old presenter and restaurateur, best known for BBC's Ready Steady Cook and Saturday Kitchen programmes, received a police caution for stealing from the Tesco in Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire.

Staff at the store reportedly spotted Worrall Thompson failing to scan some goods while using self-service checkouts at the shop on five occasions in just over two weeks from late December. According to the Sun, after using a store CCTV camera to watch Worrall Thompson use one of the tills last Friday staff challenged him as he left the store and called the police.

Police said the items involved were of low value. They reportedly included wine and cheese.

Worrall Thompson, from High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, said in a statement that he deeply regretted his actions. He said: "I am of course devastated for my family and friends, whom I've let down, and will seek the treatment that is clearly needed.

"I am not the first, and I certainly won't be the last person to do something without rhyme or reason – what went through my head, only time will tell.

"Of course, I must also apologise sincerely to Tesco, with whom [I've] had a long and genuine working relationship, and to all the staff at the Henley branch, many of whom I've got to know over the years. I am so sorry for all my recent stupid and irresponsible actions. Hopefully in the future I can make amends."

A Thames Valley police spokesman said: "Thames Valley Police arrested a 60-year-old man from High Wycombe following a report of shoplifting offences in Tesco, Reading Road, Henley-on-Thames. The man has been issued with a formal caution for these offences."

A Tesco spokesman said: "It's a matter for police."

Worrall Thompson's first restaurant was the Ménage à Trois in Knightsbridge, central London, in 1981. He opened a series of subsequent outlets as well as moving into television and producing an eponymous range of cooking equipment.

In 2009 he put his chain of six restaurants, pubs and cafes into administration, blaming his bank for being too cautious with credit.

He used his own funds to keep open two restaurants, in Kew and Windsor, and has since bought back and reopened the Greyhound, a gastropub in Oxfordshire, and the Windsor Larder, a delicatessen and cafe.