Home needed for 6ft soft toy Happy Feet penguin

Maureen Bailey said she will be sad to see him go but no longer has room for him

A 75-year-old bride-to-be is looking for a new home for a 6ft-tall cuddly penguin chick.

Retired checkout assistant Maureen Bailey told the Grantham Journal she won "Mumble" - used to help promote the film Happy Feet - in a raffle at Asda.

The grandmother, who is getting married in July, said there would be no space for it in her downsized love nest.

As "he's a bit too big for a normal house" she thinks a venue like a hotel may want to p-p-pick up the penguin.

More on this and other stories from across Lincolnshire

Mumble, named after the leading character in the 2006 Warner Bros film, was used in a supermarket promotion were Mrs Bailey worked and was auctioned when it ended.

"I don't think they knew what to do with it," Mrs Bailey said.

"I bought one strip of raffle tickets, then forgot about it and to my amazement I won."

According to Mrs Bailey, everyone loves to have a sneaky cuddle with Mumble

She said after winning her fluffy friend it took two men to get it in her car and she drove home "squashed next to a great big penguin's head".

"Since then, he has mostly stood in the corner of the dining room," she said.

"I'm getting married in July, and we are thinking of buying a smaller house - so, some things have got to go - and the penguin is one of them.

"I will be sad to say goodbye after all these years."

She said her fiancée had not given her an ultimatum - "the penguin or me" - but if he had, she "couldn't say" what her response might have been.