A bargain-hunting mole found its way into a branch of Poundstretcher and frightened staff – before they came around and named him Ernest.
The furry mammal is thought to have stowed away on a pallet to get inside, and spent around four hours browsing before he was spotted hiding by the tills last week.
Store manager Judi Brewis, 64, described the moment that one of her checkout assistants screamed after finding the ‘rat-sized’ mole.
Judi, who has worked in the shop for four years, said: ‘I was like “what the hell is that?” I hadn’t seen a mole before.
‘I’ve only seen Wind in the Willows – that’s the only mole I’ve seen.
‘I was amazed by how furry it was. He was so clean too. He didn’t look like he’d just come out of a hole.’
Judi helped put the mole in a basket before taking him back across the road to a wooded area around 500 yards away.
Whether he’d come bargain hunting I don’t know,’ she said. ‘But he certainly caused a stir.
‘He was a good four or five inches long and quite chubby.
‘My colleague has called him Ernest Penfold from Danger Mouse.’
Judi said that there were around seven customers in the shop in Stowmarket, Suffolk when the mole was found on February 1.
She added: ‘I don’t know how he got across the road without getting squashed or without anyone seeing him.
‘You couldn’t see him coming in on CCTV because he obviously came in alongside a pallet.
‘He was in the store for around four minutes. Customers wanted to have a look to see what he looked like.
‘He was about the same size as a rat but without the tail. He was quite a big boy – or girl – I don’t know what he was.
‘I didn’t want to stroke him because I don’t know if they bite. We just wanted him to be safe and put him back outside.’
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