The animal was caught wandering into the store by a passerby, who wasted no time posting the unusual photo to his Twitter feed.
While it is not an unusual occurrence to come across roaming wild animals in the New Forest, shoppers admitted that the aisle-browsing mule was “not something that you see everyday”.
The New Forest is famed for allowing donkeys, cattle, and even pigs to walk freely in its national park, but this freedom does not typically extend to shop premises.
Staff at the Tesco branch had to resort to banging baskets together to usher the donkey out of the store, after it was led up to the entrance by a trail of breadcrumbs that had been planted by a group of students.
Tristan Russell, team leader at the Tesco Express, admitted the local animals’ occasional tendency to wander off the street and make a beeline for the fruit and veg aisle can be “a bit of a nuisance”.
How would you react to meeting a four-legged friend while picking up something to eat? Would it be a good anecdote, or enough to put you off your dinner?