Robbing robin ruffles Inverness supermarket’s feathers

By Mikaela MacKinnon
Published on 04/12/2012 00:56

A 24-HOUR Tesco store has resorted to closing late at night in order to evict a couple of persistent visitors.

Two birds – a robin and a 
pigeon – have been making themselves at home at the Tesco Extra store in Inshes, Inverness, defying repeated attempts by managers to bar them. The pair have taken to circling the checkouts and loitering in the cafe window, searching for scraps of food dropped by 
customers.

Managers have now been reduced to cutting the store’s opening hours in an attempt to deal with the birds as effectively as possible, while keeping the inconvenience to customers at a minimum.

An assistant at the supermarket said: “We’ve had to start closing the store for a while at 11pm, when it’s quiet. All the staff have to go to the staff room and wait while the birds are chased out of the store.”

This is not the first time feathered visitors have dropped in on Inverness. Last year, staff at the Tesco Extra store at the Eastfield retail park were startled to find a robin living in the cafe. Despite some hygiene concerns, it proved such a hit with customers that it was allowed to stay for over two weeks.