A STARTLED shopper had no choice but to stay ‘stationery’ after getting locked in WHSmith at closing time for 45 minutes.

The 21-year-old was browsing at the back of the shop in Templars Square Shopping Centre in Cowley on Tuesday evening when she noticed the lights go down.

Walking to the front of the shop the Oxford resident found the shutters down over the doorway with no way left to get out.

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Speaking to the Oxford Mail today, she said: “The online times said 6pm closing for the centre so I assumed the shops would all be the same.

“The lights turned off at about 5.40pm and I looked around to see what was happening.

“I walked to the front to find the shutters down and the sales assistants had all left.”

Oxford Mail:

One of the images tweeted by the woman

The shopper Googled a contact phone number for the centre and spoke to ‘confused’ security guards as she explained she was trapped inside WHSmith.

She added: “Two security guards got to the front and tried to peer in but couldn’t see me, but I could see them.

“They assured me that they’d contact the workers and stay there until someone arrived.

“By this point, word was getting out about my situation and passersby were stopping to peer in and see what the commotion was.”

About half an hour passed before security were able to contact WHSmith staff, and after 45 minutes staff from the city centre store came to the rescue.

During the ordeal and despite having a low phone battery, the 21-year-old tweeted out her predicament.

A series of tweets from the shopper’s account @Biffa_2 documented her unfortunate situation, and was met with a number of jokes from amused readers.

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One commenter said ‘well at least you can find something to read while you wait’.

The original tweet in the series has since been liked 488 times and had 119 retweets.

Oxford Mail:

A security guard stood wait while someone arrived with keys

The shopper said: “It was all quite funny and my friends were very entertained by it all, and the security guard gave me a handshake before letting me out of the centre.

“I was desperate for the loo so I sped home. I didn’t even get to buy what I needed but might stick to Wilko next time.”

WHSmith apologised and said it was investigating, while reminding staff of best practice for locking up.