A cigarette loving sparrow is being blamed for a fire that caused £250,000 of damage to a shop in Lincolnshire.
Paul Sheriff, 48, who runs Crescent Stores in Leasingham, was initially at a loss as to what caused the blaze, reports Metro.
But six weeks on, insurance investigators have told him that they discovered 35 cigarette ends in the roof.
Their conclusion was a sparrow must have picked up a smouldering butt to feather its nest in the roof's eaves, causing the blaze.
Mr Sheriff, a non-smoker, said: "The shop was a total mess. All the suspended ceilings came down, all the electrics were down, all the fridges were broken, it was horrendous."
A spokesman for his insurance company AXA said: "We believe it's the first case of its kind we've ever had to deal with. We had to bring in a specialist to investigate.
'I've certainly never come across this sort of thing before. It's strange to think how such a little bird armed with such a small object could cause such chaos."
Paul Sheriff, 48, who runs Crescent Stores in Leasingham, was initially at a loss as to what caused the blaze, reports Metro.
But six weeks on, insurance investigators have told him that they discovered 35 cigarette ends in the roof.
Their conclusion was a sparrow must have picked up a smouldering butt to feather its nest in the roof's eaves, causing the blaze.
Mr Sheriff, a non-smoker, said: "The shop was a total mess. All the suspended ceilings came down, all the electrics were down, all the fridges were broken, it was horrendous."
A spokesman for his insurance company AXA said: "We believe it's the first case of its kind we've ever had to deal with. We had to bring in a specialist to investigate.
'I've certainly never come across this sort of thing before. It's strange to think how such a little bird armed with such a small object could cause such chaos."
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