A couple were so engrossed while trying out a new game inside a shop they ended up getting locked in as staff pulled the shutters down and left for the night.
Nathan Bamping and girlfriend Olivia Johnson were stuck inside a branch of Currys PC World for 40 minutes because workers failed to notice them as they left at closing time.
The pair had popped in to do some last-minute Christmas shopping and decided to try out a racing game on Xbox Series X.
Data analyst Nathan, 19, said: “We’d only intended to have a quick go, but it’s so addictive that we spent ages racing each other.
“When we finally got up we found all the doors were closed, the shutters were locked and the staff had gone.
“As we walked around looking for an exit, we were triggering all these alarms. I tried to call a Currys helpline but couldn’t get through. I rang my mum in a panic, but she didn’t know what to do either.
“We started to wonder if we might be stuck in there for Christmas. It was like Home Alone, but set in a Currys store.
“It was quite scary at the time, but in hindsight it’s actually quite hilarious.”
He added: “They’ve got all the latest TVs and video games in there, so if we’d been stuck over night, at least we’d have had plenty of entertainment options.”
The pair were rescued from the store in White City, Manchester, 40 minutes later by a manager who alerted by an alarm bring triggered.
Nathan and office worker Olivia, 18, weren't put off and went back to buy the Xbox they had been playing.
A spokesman for Currys PC World said: “Our stores are designed to be palaces of discovery where customers can demo and interact with amazing tech.
“As part of our end-of-day store closing process our colleagues check for any remaining customers before locking up. In this instance, our usual stringent processes fell short and we missed two customers who were in a covered gaming simulation.
“We have apologised to the customers and as a gesture of goodwill, we've offered a free controller to go with the console they have ordered from us.”
