Hamish the hamster makes great escape while on secret trip to cinema

When five-year-old Sarah Stokes smuggled Hamish the hamster to the cinema, little did she know he’d end up starring in his own version of The Great Escape.

Excited by the screening of Alvin & the Chipmunks, the restless rodent jumped out of his owner’s bag and disappeared beneath the hundreds of seats in the darkened cinema.

The Pangbourne schoolgirl was so worried about telling anyone about returning hamster-less after Hamish’s illicit trip out that it was not until three days later that mum Holly Stokes realised he was not in his cage.



It was only after a top-to-bottom hunt through the house that young Sarah plucked up the courage to own up to smuggling Hamish to the movies.

After a flurry of phone calls to the Showcase cinema in Winnersh, staff found Hamish scurrying beneath the screen.

Mrs Stokes said: "We all thought he had escaped from his cage and was lost in the house but a few days later Sarah admitted she had taken him out for an adventure. "Sarah's done a few things before but nothing to rival this." Hamish is now safely locked in his cage at home, being looked after by Sarah's big sister Rachel, aged 10.