- The animal trotted into the store after following customers in from the car park
- It made a beeline for the bananas before turning to look at the pasta
- Customers tried to coax it out with a lettuce head and a broom at the Lidl
- The amazing sight was filmed in tourist town of Alcochete, near Lisbon, Portugal
- Police removed the pig after failed attempts by shoppers and staff to get it out
This is the hilarious moment a disorientated 18-stone pig ends up in a supermarket to the astonishment of shoppers who resort to the likes of a lettuce to try to coax it outside.
The animal trotted into the Lidl supermarket, having followed customers in from the car park in the popular tourist town of Alcochete, opposite the Portuguese capital Lisbon on the east bank of the River Tagus.
Mobile phone footage taken by an astonished customer showed it making a beeline for the bananas before turning to look at the pasta and other long-life foods on offer on the shelves.
It appeared quite at home in its out-of-the-ordinary setting, resisting a sidekick by one man trying to encourage it to leave and ignoring attempts by other clients to ease it out of a fire exit with a broom and a lettuce.
It only appeared to lose its nerve as another more aggressive customer tried to manhandle it outside, squealing as it sprinted towards a fridge-freezer section on the other side of the supermarket before slowing down again and having a good root around clothes on sale between the food aisles.
Police had to be called to remove the pig after failed attempts by shoppers and staff to encourage it to leave.
It is now back with its owner, a farmer said to live close to the supermarket.
Nuno Miguel Santos, among those who posted the footage online, said: ‘A pig went shopping today in Alcochete.’
Manuel Sergio joked: ‘It was obviously starting its Christmas shopping.’
Catia Salvador added: ‘It must have been summonsed to identify a relative’s body.’
The video has already been viewed hundreds of thousands of times online.
Last month a coffee shop in Michigan was closed after a deer smashed through its window and wreaked havoc.
The shop three employees were busy serving customers in the drive-through when the animal crashed in.
It jumped over the cash register counter before making its way to the back of the shop and collapsing.
Animal control officers were called to let the deer out a back door.
Owner Carrie Cousins described the coffee shop afterwards as ‘looking like a murder scene’ because of all the damage caused.