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The squirrel on the loose in New Look in Market Square
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Store has to shut as squirrel goes nuts...

December 14, 2012

A squirrel on the loose in a clothes shop forced shoppers to evacuate the aisles.

The furry creature with a taste for high street fashion was discovered by a customer looking through a rail of clothes in New Look on Friday, December 7 afternoon.

Customers had to put down their shopping and leave the town centre shop in Market Square after the squirrel was found among the fashion.

Shop manager Sharon Stone said: “He was all tangled up in clothes and was very scared so we decided to evacuate the shop.

“When everyone had left I turned off all the lights and put some nuts on the floor from the trees outside but he didn’t seem very interested.”

Staff asked passing PCSO Peter Walde to help them catch the squirrel.

Ms Stone added: “Eventually it went into the fitting room and we were able to catch him, he’d got himself into a corner so the PCSO was able to put a net over him.”

She said PSCO Walde was very helpful, as he agreed to help when nobody else would.

She added: “He was amazing, everyone we asked to help didn’t really understand or take it seriously.”

The manager says she thinks evacuating the shop was the right thing to do, despite missing out on a lot of Christmas shoppers.

She said: “It’s just unfortunate that we’ve had to close and lose trade but I’d rather that happened than a poor squirrel died or got hurt.

“It was so scared we wouldn’t have been able to do it with a full shop.”

Ms Stone also praised her staff for the way they dealt with the situation, she said: “The girls were amazing and stayed really calm.

“Now we just need to get on and clear up the mess that he left behind, there are clothes knocked all over the place.

“He really has left destruction behind him.”

The 40-year-old manager believes the adventurous animal got into the shop during the morning delivery.

She added: “The people from the market setting up stalls opposite said they saw him come in but didn’t tell us.”

After capturing the squirrel and removing it from the shop it was released into a nearby field by PSCO Walde.

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Most recent user comments 5 of 5

It is an offence under section 14 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act (1981) to introduce and release grey squirrels into the wild. I wonder if the plastic bobby is facing any charges over that? I doubt it. One rule for us and one for them. I'm going to release the ones who get 'stuck' in my house and use this story as a defence.

Private Piles, woky
19/12/2012 at 11:27

“The people from the market setting up stalls opposite said they saw him come in but didn’t tell us.”

I'm feeling the love from the market traders here.

Paul Daniels' reattached finger.
14/12/2012 at 12:27

Ms Stone also praised her staff for the way they dealt with the situation, she said: “The girls were amazing and stayed really calm"

LOL

I love local news :)

Tequila Mockingbird, Wokingham
14/12/2012 at 12:07

The council's plans for Elms Field will considerably reduce this sort of problem in the future as it will lead to a considerable reduction to the wild life around the town centre.