Seagull stuck inside south Bristol Asda for 16 days finally rescued in clothes section

A seagull which wandered into an Asda store in early June and then couldn’t find the way out has been rescued by volunteers from a bird welfare charity.

It was grabbed by one rescuer in the clothes section of the store in south Bristol in the early hours of this morning, Friday, June 23, and is now being nursed back to health at a local vets.

The Seagull became disorientated once inside the store in Bedminster.

It survived by stealing food and avoiding capture for more than a fortnight, despite the best efforts of Asda staff and contractors brought in to try to coax it down.

The gull became something of a national sensation and was even discussed on the Radio 1 breakfast show by presenter Greg James.

A national bird welfare organisation called the Foundation For Feathered Friends got involved, and urged Asda to let them try to capture it.

On Tuesday evening, 20 June, the team of volunteers almost succeeded in coaxing the nervous bird towards food laid out, where they were waiting with a big net, but the bird was spooked by other shoppers and flew back up into the vast network of rafters high above the aisles.

After a couple of nights of trying while the shop was open, its local volunteers were allowed in after the 10pm closure last night, 22 June, and successfully accomplished their mission after around two hours.

Local volunteer Amandine Cook said: "Asda finally gave us the green light to go there after closing time yesterday, so we went there last night at midnight,"

"It took us two hours of chasing but she is now safe."