TikTok fame for Tonteg woman dangling from shop shutters

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Media caption,

CCTV captured the moment Anne Hughes was lifted into the air by shop shutters

A woman hoisted into the air by shop shutters has joked that she will have to "handle the fame" after a CCTV clip went viral.

Anne Hughes, 72, a cleaner at the Best One convenience store in Tonteg, Rhondda Cynon Taf, was lifted several feet up when her coat got caught.

The shop shared the clip on TikTok, where it's been seen 1.9 million times.

"I'll never hear the end of it," she said. "My boss has said he's never liked his staff hanging around."

Ms Hughes said she retired formally seven years ago but had been working at the store since then.

She was leaning against the shutters when the shop owner opened them from the inside.

"He couldn't hear me shouting when I realised that I had been caught," she told the BBC.

Image source, Anne Hughes
Image caption,

Anne Hughes screamed the shop owner's name after he opened the shutters from inside

"The shutter was completely open then I screamed his name, and thank goodness he came out and lowered the shutter a little bit and managed to get me in his arms.

"And I just can remember saying to him 'just grab my head' - I was worried I was going to fall, I was pointing towards the floor."

Her grandchildren and daughter-in-law asked why she had grabbed hold of her trolley as she was lifted up, and she said: "I just don't know."

She said she was shaken up but not injured, and has seen the funny side.

She joked: "Last night we were singing Fame to all my messenger group and they thought it was hysterical.

"I'll have to handle the fame, always have my make-up on.

"I'll never go against those shutters again. Never. I've learned my lesson."

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