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Hop Farm's hamster secures press coverage

12 March 2001

A bit of the bizarre, combined with a connection to a national name, can often work wonders when it comes to securing press coverage.

Back in 2001, Brent Pollard, the then owner of the Hop Farm Country Park, Beltring, near Paddock Wood, returned £3,000 lighter from the auction of items from the Millennium Dome after it closed. But he was now the proud owner of a 6ft plastic hamster, a large piece of plastic cheese, a seagull made entirely of kitchen utensils, and much, much more.

The plastic rodent went on to join the baby animals and shire horses in its ‘Animal Farm’ feature at the Hop Farm, before being ‘kidnapped’ as part of an elaborate April Fools stunt to secure ransom money for a local charity. The whereabouts of the hamster are currently unknown.

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