Whoville has come to a Lancashire chip shop with the owner decorating the shopfront and hosting free meet and greets with the Grinch himself.
Having hand-drawn a scene of the mean-tempered Grinch stealing a portion of fish and chips onto her shop window, Deryn Regan-Hitchen, owner of West End Fish Bar in Oswaldtwistle, set about buying a grinch costume to tease passers-by.
Deryn comments: “I came up with the idea of How the Grinch Stole Fishmas as a play on words How the Grinch Stole Christmas. It was blowing a gale, it was freezing while we were doing the window display, but everyone loved it, especially the kids.
“I thought let’s find a cheap outfit and dress up a couple of nights and mess about. The Grinch is naughty, so I could be outside the shop, acting daft and teasing the kids.
“Kids have been shouting, ‘it’s the Grinch’ and running up to me. I’ve been teasing them, doing hi-fives and making them miss, and giving out chocolate bars. It’s made their day.”
With the cost of living pushing prices up and a trip to Father Christmas costing over £5, Deryn says not everybody can afford it. “It was one of my staff members that said it’s great you’re doing this because not everybody can afford to see Santa, but people can come down here and see the Grinch for free. I don’t expect anyone to buy anything from the chippy, it’s just a bit of fun, it’s free and it’s just making everybody smile.
“It’s nice watching cars go past and people waving. The police went by and put their lights on. It’s right nice, being outside, bouncing around and seeing all these little faces lighting up.”
Deryn’s final appearance as the Grinch is this Thursday. She adds: “I’m a little unsure how busy we will be as the local paper has done a story on it, but I’ve made sure I’ve got extra staff on.”
