02 November 2023 , 12:39
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A mum has claimed a dead bat was lurking inside a box of supermarket Halloween decorations, leaving her shocked.
Anna Greenhill decided to get home ready for the October 31st celebrations on Sunday morning and used the bat, pumpkin, ghost and witch hangings she'd purchased from her local Lidl in Mere Green, Sutton Coldfield, West Mids, earlier this month. But after unboxing the £2.99 decorations, the 40-year-old says she saw something animal-like concealed inside.
Terrified, Anna thought the furry shape was a mouse but upon further inspection was horrified to discover what she believes was a dead bat hiding among her themed purchase. Anna, who runs her own nail boutique business in Sutton Coldfield jumped out her skin and worried it might have brought diseases into her home.
Lidl pointed out that the decorations come in flat, clear packaging - but Anna says the decorations had been sat in a pile on her windowsill since she had bought them on October 9. She admits she was surprised that the alleged creature had not decomposed however she claims that the packet was sealed shut and she is '100% sure it was a real bat'.
Lidl said they take matters of quality control very seriously and they had had 'no other complaints of this nature', while encouraging Anna to contact their Customer Care team rather than report it to them on social media as she had done. Anna said: "I just had the decorations on my windowsill and hadn't actually put them up but then on the weekend I thought I need to actually put these up.
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Anna Greenhill says she bought the decorations from Lidl (Kennedy News and Media)"I opened the packages and pulled them out pile by pile and started putting stuff on the window. I went for the next pile and saw there was something on the end of one of the decorations. At first I thought there was a mouse on it. I jumped out my skin and thought oh my god it's a bat. You don't think you're going to see a bat. When I looked closely, I thought that's not a mouse.
"You could see the shape of it and it was a bat. At first I thought it's not real, is it a toy? When you look closely and see the detail, you realise it's definitely a real bat. It wasn't moving. It was obviously dead. Thank god it wasn't flying all over the place."
Anna said the discovery left her in shock and disbelief that what she believes to be a real nocturnal creature was secreted among her Halloween decorations and opted to contact the chain on social media about it.
Anna said: "I just couldn't believe it. I jumped and shouted out oh my god. I was in shock. I just stared at it, took some pictures and Googled what to do. Because of disease and everything I was worried. I thought could it have come from China? Especially everything that happened with Covid.
She was shocked at the find (Kennedy News and Media)"I just double wrapped it in plastic bags and put it in the outside bin. It was a bit of a worry thinking I hope I haven't brought any disease into the house. It's so ironic it was on bat decorations. That's the thing that makes it so strange. It's Halloween decorations which is so ironic. You almost think is it a Halloween prank because it was in the Halloween decorations.
"It was not a toy though. If you look at the picture you can see that it is a real bat. It 100% is." The mum said Lidl is one of her favourite shops but admits the unexpected surprise left her shocked. Anna said: "It was definitely in the sealed packaging. I bought it in Lidl two weeks ago and it had just been sat there unopened. I don't know where Lidl get there stuff from but just thought that is so weird.
"It's made me a little bit apprehensive to shop in Lidl. I love shopping in Lidl and looking in the middle aisle but it's worried me about where they get their stuff from."
A Lidl spokeswoman said: "Naturally, we were concerned to hear about this, especially as the customer has not been in direct contact after purchasing the item on the 9th October. We take matters of quality control very seriously and while we’ve had no other complaints of this nature, we would encourage the customer to contact our Customer Care team should they wish for it to be investigated fully with the supplier."