{"id":122709,"date":"2023-12-09T20:29:05","date_gmt":"2023-12-09T20:29:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lasixlineon.com\/?p=122709"},"modified":"2023-12-09T20:29:05","modified_gmt":"2023-12-09T20:29:05","slug":"greedy-squirrels-blighted-estate-with-half-eaten-chocolate-in-wafergate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lasixlineon.com\/world-news\/greedy-squirrels-blighted-estate-with-half-eaten-chocolate-in-wafergate\/","title":{"rendered":"Greedy squirrels blighted estate with half-eaten chocolate in ‘wafergate’"},"content":{"rendered":"
Litter louts who blighted a housing estate with half-eaten chocolate for months turned out to be greedy squirrels.<\/p>\n
Locals became gripped by the \u2018whodunnit\u2019 after Blue Riband bars kept appearing.<\/p>\n
The saga \u2013 dubbed \u2018Wafergate\u2019 \u2013 was discussed daily on the estate WhatsApp group, with theories and accusations spreading through the community.<\/p>\n
READ MORE: Feral monkeys who took over town and loved to mug tourists moved to fake trees nearby<\/span><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n For more news, click here.<\/b><\/p>\n The mystery was finally solved after a local who works in a nearby caravan storage facility spotted dozens of Blue Ribands inside a skip.<\/p>\n Another resident then spotted squirrels running up a tree with wrappers \u2013 and put two and two together.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Local Fiona Downes, 33, a full-time mum, said: \u201cI first noticed all these wrappers back in September.<\/p>\n \u201cWe live on a private estate on an ex-RAF base \u2013 it\u2019s a very close-knit community.<\/p>\n \u201cI was walking my children and suddenly noticed there\u2019s loads of Blue Riband wrappers everywhere.<\/p>\n \u201cI posted a picture on our WhatsApp group, asking people to please pick up their wrappers if they\u2019ve been eating chocolate bars.\u201d<\/p>\n But no one fessed up and, over the following months, more wrappers and half-eaten chocolate bars continued to appear.<\/p>\n Fiona said: \u201cIt became a big topic among residents. Everyone was desperate to uncover the culprit. It was a big mystery.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cPeople were getting annoyed, thinking someone was just littering. While others thought maybe it\u2019s the bin men. Suspicions were growing.\u201d<\/p>\n All became clear when a resident spotted the skip on a site just behind the estate \u2013 with a box of Blue Ribands inside.<\/p>\n Another resident, Natalie Clarke, managed to snap pictures of squirrels scurrying up a tree, chocolate in mouth.<\/p>\n Fiona said: \u201cSquirrels had clearly been in there and stolen them all.<\/p>\n \u201cWe don\u2019t know where their stash is but there was definitely some kind of box of the chocolate bars in the skip.<\/p>\n \u201cIt only took three months to work out!\u201d<\/p>\n Full-time mum Natalie, 42, said: \u201cWe spent months finding these wrappers, we all got a bit obsessed and were trying to hunt people down.<\/p>\n \u201cWe were trying to work out who buys wafers from Aldi before we realised that squirrels were doing it.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I saw them I was like \u2018oh my God I\u2019ve finally found proof\u2019.<\/p>\n \u201cThe sheer volume of the bars honestly, they must be going through 100 of them a week.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Fiona said: \u201cOnce somebody had posted the pictures of squirrels it took the excitement away.<\/p>\n \u201cThen it seemed to calm down and we thought they might have finished their supply but in the past few days lots of the wrappers have been appearing again.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re not sure why the chocolate was left on our property. Maybe it was an out-of-date box.\u201d<\/p>\n Fiona added that the whole saga for those in Dudley Crescent in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire has been \u201ca good bit of fun.\u201d<\/p>\n She said: \u201cIt\u2019s become a huge joke with everyone and we\u2019ve all had a good laugh.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019d like to know how a squirrel opens a chocolate bar. They probably won\u2019t be able to walk now due to putting on so much weight.\u201d<\/p>\n