Will It Be ‘One for Sorrow’? Trifle-loving Sainsbury’s Magpie Faces Extermination

Published on: 19 May, 2026
Updated on: 19 May, 2026

The Sainsbury’s Magpie – so far, impossible to catch.

By Daisy Edwards

It looks as though the infamous magpie trapped in the Godalming Sainsbury’s on Woolsack Way is facing extermination.

The bird, a protected wild species, has now been stuck in the store for six weeks and freedom looks less and less likely as the store is believed to have applied for permission to have the bird destroyed.

A source close to the situation has said that the Godalming branch of Sainsbury’s has “no official statement on the matter”, but has quietly applied for a special licence to have it killed.

The source said: “I think, at this point, they’re either going to go down the route of, it’s a humane thing to do for the bird because it’s distressed and we have been unable to get it out.”

Sainsbury’s Godalming Google

Godalming locals are divided, with many who have formed emotional attachments to the magpie, with others citing health and safety concerns as the bird has been pecking through food packets and defecating in the store.

It is said that the store has taken multiple attempts to try and humanely remove the bird, including specially designed traps, and locals have even taken to playing magpie sounds by the door but, with high foot fall in the store, the magpie is staying up in the roof space. Reportedly, staff have been asked to help try and catch the bird during their shifts but to no avail.

Some believe that the most reliable ways of removing the bird would be to turn off all interior lights to force the magpie to fly towards daylight and out through the doors but, according to the source, this has proved impossible: “There are no light switches in the store, it’s done by a switchboard. For magpies, you need to turn the lights off so it will fly towards the light, which will be outside, but there are no light switches.”

In a local Godalming Facebook group, locals have attempted to get Central & Ockford Ward councillor Paul Follows, set to become leader of the new West Surrey Shadow Council, involved, and the Guildford Dragon has attempted to contact him for comment.