Luxury hotel left in disbelief as £100,000 of Koi carp stolen by night 'prowler'

24 August 2023 , 23:12

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CCTV showed the guilty party who had been stealing its koi (Image: Grosvenor Hotel and Spa, Pulford)

An unexpected guest has launched a number of daring raids at a luxury hotel - and has munched its way through around £100,000 of Koi fish.

The Grosvenor Hotel and Spa in Pulford had noticed several of its colourful carps had vanished in recent weeks. Determined to find the truth, they checked CCTV and finally discovered the culprit. To their shock they found an otter had been making its way into the garden and, despite the security netting over the water, has stolen around 50 of the posh fish. The thefts are believed to have been worth around £100,000.

NorthWalesLive reported The Grosvenor posted on their Facebook page: "Our team recently discovered an uninvited guest prowling the hotel grounds at night. This gutsy guy has been helping himself to the koi carp who call our grounds home, with around 30 koi plucked from the Asian Sensory Garden pond and a further 20 from our other pond. The otter cheek of it!"

"As delighted as we are to be playing our part in the local eco-system, we (and the fish) can only hope that the assailant’s visits become at least a bit less frequent as he’s racking up quite a bill. He’s accused of eating a whopping £100,000 worth of our fish. Our grounds team will continue to investigate.”

The hotel is not alone in being targeted. Plenty of others shared similar experiences on the thread. Clarissa North said: "We have a big pool at the hospice I work at and we had one - he ate the lot!" Pauline Bunner said: "I had the same problem with my pond. A mink (or otter) managed to slip into the pond through the base of a water plant. The pond was netted, but netting wasn't enough of a deterrent."

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Andrew Nelson, Director of Nelson Hotels & Inns, added: “It was definitely a surprise to say the least to find that an otter was the culprit for our huge loss of fish! With the fences we have installed previously to protect smaller fish from herons, we didn’t expect any large animals to be able to access the pond areas.

“With around £100K worth of Koi now lost, we are trying to find a solution to prevent any further loss. Our colourful carp are not only eye-catching habitants of our garden, who have enjoyed a happy home on our grounds undisturbed for many years, but a substantial investment into our venue.”

Antony Clements-Thrower