Bird on the loose in Newport Tesco store for five days

10:20am Wednesday 2nd January 2013 in Gwent news

ON THE LOOSE: A Pied Wagtail like this has been inside a Newport Tesco store for five days ON THE LOOSE: A Pied Wagtail like this has been inside a Newport Tesco store for five days

A CUSTOMER at the Tesco store in Newport has raised concerns after a bird was trapped inside the store for five days.

Caroline Parker visited the store on Harlech Retail Park on Cardiff Road on Monday with her son and was concerned when she spotted a bird flying around the restaurant in the store eating scraps of food.

After speaking to the duty manager, she became aware that the Pied Wagtail bird had been in the store since December 28.

She said: "The bird is quite distressed as it is flying around and it has just been left there for a number of days.

"I won’t be eating there again as they don’t know where the bird could be landing when the store is shut."

A Tesco spokeswoman said: "We have asked Rentokil to safely catch and release the bird at our Newport Extra.

"Our aim is to do the same with any birds which have found their way into our stores, whilst ensuring we maintain our high standards of hygiene."

Comments(46)

mr david says...
10:58am Wed 2 Jan 13

the last time i was in the cafe the cups were in a very bad state stains on the cups and inside the cups talk about hygiene we do not use this restaurant or store now.

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sperduti says...
11:12am Wed 2 Jan 13

oh yes i was there too on saturday morning and could see 2 birds flying around !! very difficult to try and catch birds , tesco is not at fault here they fly in any where, birds have tried to get in my bathroom window when opened in the summer!!

i did notice on occasions that the knives were not clean and had to take a load back to say they had not been washed properly plus cups ive noticed too i always look for clean one and i tell staff if i see any not clean as they should be and the tables too i have to wipe ours with tissue i keep in my bag , the cafe does not belong to tesco any way , also dont think they have enough staff to be honest!!

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Meandog says...
11:21am Wed 2 Jan 13

I may re-tweet this story on Twitter.
Sorry - I'll get my coat.

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Bommaz says...
11:58am Wed 2 Jan 13

City Wildlife Care were called in on Saturday by a member of the public and have had many calls regarding the bird, a rescue worker spoke to the duty manager and said that the bird could be caught quickly as the have a low ceiling, the store was closing at 4pm and CWC gave a phone number and offered to return, Tesco never called back. The animal is clearly distressed as any wild animal would be when trapped, this should have been dealt with as soon as the store was made aware of the problem. Shame on you Tesco.

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UpsetResident says...
12:44pm Wed 2 Jan 13

for shame

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rocking the ganj says...
4:25pm Wed 2 Jan 13

not exactly a rat is it? absolute nonstory. get a life

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UpsetResident says...
5:12pm Wed 2 Jan 13

rocking the ganj wrote:
not exactly a rat is it? absolute nonstory. get a life
well actually, just have a think for a second...

Birds can poop, and with the ability to fly over the bakery, fish stand, cheeses and deli counter, would you like some sliced ham with dried bird sass?

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cath 872 says...
5:49pm Wed 2 Jan 13

Perhaps the Tesco staff should check the bird food they have for sale......will the bird be billed for it?

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rocking the ganj says...
5:56pm Wed 2 Jan 13

cath 872 wrote:
Perhaps the Tesco staff should check the bird food they have for sale......will the bird be billed for it?
only ducks get billed ;-)

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sugar2002ukuk says...
6:38pm Wed 2 Jan 13

I agree with Bomaz I know City Wildlife offered to catch the bird on when the store closed on Sunday. They preferred Rentokil come in who would destroy the bird. tesco obviously would prefer the bird to become distressed and to wait extra days before being caught. Cannot believe that a local charity said they would catch the bird that day but refused there help. Well done Caroline

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sugar2002ukuk says...
6:38pm Wed 2 Jan 13

I agree with Bomaz I know City Wildlife offered to catch the bird on when the store closed on Sunday. They preferred Rentokil come in who would destroy the bird. tesco obviously would prefer the bird to become distressed and to wait extra days before being caught. Cannot believe that a local charity said they would catch the bird that day but refused there help. Well done Caroline

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Batman says...
7:12pm Wed 2 Jan 13

It was still there today (2nd Jan).

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willow181 says...
9:44pm Wed 2 Jan 13

Saw the bird on Sunday when had the unfortunate pleasure of shopping at this store ! Sad to think it is still in residence. Must say this store is somewhat badly run management of this store is extremely poor feel sorry for the staff who have the unfortunate pleasure of being based in this store its a disgrace on various levels and Tesco should consider knocking it down and starting again and getting rid of Management there so this incident is just one of many badly handled by Management at Harlech Tescos Free the bird please !

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portman says...
11:59pm Wed 2 Jan 13

This Store is a Disgrace

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rocking the ganj says...
1:01am Thu 3 Jan 13

willow181 wrote:
Saw the bird on Sunday when had the unfortunate pleasure of shopping at this store ! Sad to think it is still in residence. Must say this store is somewhat badly run management of this store is extremely poor feel sorry for the staff who have the unfortunate pleasure of being based in this store its a disgrace on various levels and Tesco should consider knocking it down and starting again and getting rid of Management there so this incident is just one of many badly handled by Management at Harlech Tescos Free the bird please !
whut? knock it down? because a bird got in there? riiiiiigggghht

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smokintheweed says...
1:15am Thu 3 Jan 13

If it was a pigeon or a rat then I don't think many people would be opposed to having the thing shot with an air rifle. But no, instead some want to see the store torn down.

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Katie Re-Registered says...
1:57am Thu 3 Jan 13

Lucky the bird wasn't a rat as it could have ended up in one of their sandwiches:)

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high x boy says...
9:02am Thu 3 Jan 13

should have let it go when they took the picture.

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russ angel says...
10:11am Thu 3 Jan 13

The restaurant should have been closed and the problem dealt with instantly.I like Tesco but I am not happy about hearing about this.They should have been more stringent,i will still use the restaurant but with a bit more awareness off the hygiene.

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rocking the ganj says...
5:36pm Thu 3 Jan 13

we'll have to nuke the site from orbit. Its the only way to be sure

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Robindabank says...
5:49pm Thu 3 Jan 13

There's a bloke from Nantyglo with contracts in London who uses a Polecat (muzzled mind you) to flush birds out of big buildings. Open windows / doors, introduce Polecat, birds exit unharmed.

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FillA says...
7:52pm Thu 3 Jan 13

Saw 2 of these birds near shelves on 28th Dec. we actually handed in some very very mouldy nam bread we found on a shelf close to where we saw birds, although we were spoken very flippantly by a staff member even though we were trying to help them - the product had a week to go on its sell by date. Perhaps the birds had pecked the packet, who knows. One thing for sure, we won't be going back

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smokintheweed says...
12:48am Fri 4 Jan 13

FillA wrote:
Saw 2 of these birds near shelves on 28th Dec. we actually handed in some very very mouldy nam bread we found on a shelf close to where we saw birds, although we were spoken very flippantly by a staff member even though we were trying to help them - the product had a week to go on its sell by date. Perhaps the birds had pecked the packet, who knows. One thing for sure, we won't be going back
Nam bread eh?

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smokintheweed says...
2:28am Fri 4 Jan 13

Haven't had that since Saigon.

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Bommaz says...
6:57am Fri 4 Jan 13

This is a serious matter, Tesco are ignoring the fact that a live animal has been in the store for over a week, this creates a public health issue, where are Environmental health, has somebody got to get ill first

also SMOKINTHEWEED, is it just your goal in life to sit there making stupid comments, if you came off the drugs you might actually have something decent to add. you are not big or clever, just a boring troll.

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high x boy says...
11:33am Fri 4 Jan 13

staff spoke to me very badly last Saturday.

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Howie' says...
1:08pm Fri 4 Jan 13

Bommaz wrote:
This is a serious matter, Tesco are ignoring the fact that a live animal has been in the store for over a week, this creates a public health issue, where are Environmental health, has somebody got to get ill first

also SMOKINTHEWEED, is it just your goal in life to sit there making stupid comments, if you came off the drugs you might actually have something decent to add. you are not big or clever, just a boring troll.
I think the 'Weed' was just trying to inject some humour in to the topic.......So just lay back, relax and most importantly.........
inhale. Well it works for me.

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smokintheweed says...
3:02pm Fri 4 Jan 13

Howie' wrote:
Bommaz wrote:
This is a serious matter, Tesco are ignoring the fact that a live animal has been in the store for over a week, this creates a public health issue, where are Environmental health, has somebody got to get ill first

also SMOKINTHEWEED, is it just your goal in life to sit there making stupid comments, if you came off the drugs you might actually have something decent to add. you are not big or clever, just a boring troll.
I think the 'Weed' was just trying to inject some humour in to the topic.......So just lay back, relax and most importantly.........

inhale. Well it works for me.
Some peoples overreactions to this so called issue is hilarious.

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ScoobyD00 says...
3:12pm Fri 4 Jan 13

Tesco should have dealt with this problem as soon as the bird entered the store as it is a health hazard. This however becomes a problem when the store is open 24hours. Do they close for a couple of hours to catch the bird on a night or remain open at 3am to serve the odd customer who may fall in drunk?

Unless the bird is actually a member of the security staff flying around with a very small camera ???

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county mad says...
3:26pm Fri 4 Jan 13

At least the poultry there is fresh lol

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smokintheweed says...
1:28am Sat 5 Jan 13

county mad wrote:
At least the poultry there is fresh lol
Definitely. No need to bring any cash. Just turn up with a shotgun and stalk around the pet food aisle looking like Elmer Fudd.

Be vewwy qwwiet.....

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jungleju says...
1:43pm Sat 5 Jan 13

I was in the store 8pm last night and seen the bird flying about in the restaurant area x this was the first time i had seen or heard about this bird x and when i pointed it out to staff x i was told it is a protected species and had to be catch and released x had no idea it had been there since 28th december surely they could have sorted this out by now x

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Bommaz says...
2:32pm Sat 5 Jan 13

All wild birds are protected under the wildlife and countryside act 1982, to play fair to the bird and the customers the bird should really be caught and removed from the store, not only is there an animal welfare issue here but an environmental health one as well, come on Tesco, this is a simple task.

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foxy3rd says...
11:17pm Sat 5 Jan 13

My impression of Tesco is that they are very much....."give us your money" and always have been.I only ever go there as very much of a last resort.Happy New Year to all.

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brunette22990 says...
4:52pm Sun 6 Jan 13

4 days later this bird is still present, seen it madly flying around at half 3, 9 days cooped up in there is unfair for both the bird and customers. Why hasn't this bird been removed? has it been fed? has any 1 cleaned up its mess? cos surely some droppings have been left somewhere!

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Bommaz says...
9:06pm Sun 6 Jan 13

12 days in total, we need a free the tesco bird campaign, i phoned City Wildlife Care who said although they are getting many calls every day from customers at tesco they are unable to rescue the bird unless tesco call them and give them the go ahead, they did offer their services last week but have still not heard back.

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gordelpus says...
7:56pm Mon 7 Jan 13

I saw a couple of blue tits in this store last year but it was simply an outdoor pyjama malfunction

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Dolieboy says...
8:12pm Mon 7 Jan 13

Perhaps the bird is happy where it is, in the warm and eating

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sperduti says...
8:54pm Mon 7 Jan 13

well was in the store again this saturday and the bird was flying around by cafe windows you could see it was desperate to get out i think all that needed to be done was for the one big pane of glass by the ATM machine to have been taken out and the bird would haver flown out right away !!

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rocking the ganj says...
1:29am Tue 8 Jan 13

the way people are talking you'd think a wag-tail craps by the gallon. I bet there's more germs from people handling the packaging. by far

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smokintheweed says...
1:52am Tue 8 Jan 13

Possibly rubs it's butt on your sandwiches. Pied Wagtails are like that. Natures pranksters. Always in it for the lols.

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smokintheweed says...
1:57am Tue 8 Jan 13

Dolieboy wrote:
Perhaps the bird is happy where it is, in the warm and eating
Admittedly they do not eat bread. Insectivorous. Will probably starve to death so better tear the roof off. Surprised the Argus hasn't started a campaign. The local paper could have their own version of the Guildford Four. The Tesco One (bird).

More people would care about that than parking.

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rocking the ganj says...
3:08pm Tue 8 Jan 13

guardbird! keep the weevils away.

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Dolieboy says...
6:16pm Tue 8 Jan 13

Are we going to start a sweepstake on when it dies or is released ?

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rocking the ganj says...
7:10pm Tue 8 Jan 13

i've got tuesday

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smokintheweed says...
2:11am Thu 10 Jan 13

rocking the ganj wrote:
i've got tuesday
Lolz. You lose. Dibs on Friday.

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