A red-faced mum went viral this week with an apology she was forced to make after her “mischievous” cat brazenly stole someone’s cooked beef joint.
Meanwhile, her neighbour had also taken to social media to report that his tea had gone missing.
Can you tell where this is going?
Haydn Lawson – 20, from Colne in Lancashire – captured the attention of the community when she shared an apology to anyone who had “just had their tea pinched” in a local Facebook group earlier this week, and it didn’t take long before other eagle-eyed social media users spotted another Colne resident, Ryan, share a post claiming his beef dinner had gone missing after leaving his window open and questioned who would steal it.
Haydn had spotted her five-year-old cat Eclipse with what at first appeared to be a dead animal, but upon taking a closer look, found it was actually a “nicely cooked piece of brisket”.
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The embarrassed full-time mum said she’s “never known” anything like her cat’s greed and suspects Eclipse had a whiff of a neighbour’s dinner and seized the opportunity to take it home, leaving Haydn to track down the stolen dinner’s rightful owner.
She said she’d even buy them a new joint if she’s successful in finding the hungry victim.
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“I came into my bedroom where I was greeted by Eclipse just sitting there on my bed eating this hunk of meat.” Haydn said.
“I just laughed at first and was in shock. I thought ‘what animal am I looking at here?’, [as] she brings home rats, pigeons, crows, mice [and] she’ll bring home bits of rubbish that she’s found, [so] my first thing was to shout at her and say ‘Eclipse, what are you doing?’ just to get her away from whatever it was.”
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Haydn still has her doubts about who the beef joint belonged to though.
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She continued: “[Ryan] lives at the other side of town. He told me where his street was and there was no chance my cat got there and back with meat in her mouth, and also, she wouldn’t have been able to get there without getting lost on the way back as it’s easily a mile or so away.
“He told me his street name and straight away I knew there was no way on this earth that my cat would have walked so far there, grabbed the meat and then walked so far back with the meat in her mouth.
“There’s so many busy roads and stuff, there wasn’t a chance”.
Despite the questioning over who’s tea had actually been stolen, the hilarious incident has still gone on to cheer up plenty of people across the region and beyond, with a picture showing the two posts side by side receiving thousands of interactions on social media, including more than 4,000 on one Instagram page.
“Looking at the comments, I thought it was absolutely hilarious,” Haydn continued.
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“I was just sat giggling at the pure thought of her sneaking into someone’s house and grabbing this meat. I had so many comments on it saying ‘thank you so much for sharing this – you’ve brightened my day’.
“I put a comment on the post and said ‘right, am I going to have to invest in a cat collar camera?’
“I don’t know whose beef joint it was – all I know is that she was on my bed eating it. I was well embarrassed. If I was to really truly find the person, I’ll buy them a new joint of beef.
“This cat, honestly – she’ll be the death of me.”
Although Haydn has been unable to actually track down the owner of the beef joint, she explained that there was a comment saying ‘God knows why you would have left your meat outside anyway to cool’, with a reply to it saying ‘I only turned my back for two minutes to plate up the roasties and it was gone’.
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“Now that to me sounds a hell of a lot more likely that this is their meat than [Ryan’s].” Haydn concluded.
This really is some proper internet beef.
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The K’s kick off Manchester’s BRITs Week celebrations early with jam-packed intimate gig
The Manc
If you were ‘Hoping Maybe’ to see The K’s at some point this year, this is your sign do it, as the rising indie band did not let the occasion of playing an intimate BRITs-backed gig get to them – they were buoyed by it.
Beloved city centre venue Gorilla was overflowing for The K’s last night, hosting an unreal small-cap set as part of Brits Week ‘26 for a very important cause: War Child.
Perfectly teed up by fellow nearby band, Florentenes from Bolton, The K’s took to a familiar stage many years on from their debut, and instantly had the crowd ready and raring for an hour of pure tunes and some very, very sweaty brows.
Earlestown’s finest certainly carried that Northern charm and energy throughout the whole night; their indie and almost nostalgic lyrical storytelling has you moshing one minute, whilst grasping your mate and ascending into live music heaven the next. There really aren’t many feelings like it.
Sobbing and swaying in the vast ocean of shoulders whilst screaming the lyrics to ‘Helen. Oh I’, I questioned how any compliment will ever compare to launching “thousand ships every time” from a kiss.
The K’s were yearning before Wuthering Heights made it vogue (again).
Musically, the band were seamless and a well-oiled machine, and so were the audience as they wholeheartedly echoed every lyric back at the lads and bounced it off the walls.
The K’s have come a long way since their first visit to Gorilla (Credit: Lucy Wagstaffe)
Every primary school assembly proudly led us to this moment, and it did not disappoint, displaying their increasingly seasoned and successful career, which I can only imagine is going to go from strength to strength this year.
I don’t think we even one more fan could have squeezed one more passionate fan into Gorilla on the night; it was heaving with people and pride; the sweat dripping down the walls indicated things are big for these local lads, and we couldn’t be prouder.
They are another prime example of shining a deserving light on Northern artists! And having the 2026 BRIT Awards up here with us is a testament to that.
Featured Images — Lucy Wagstaffe (supplied via War Child UK)
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Microdot exhibit for BRITs 2026: the artwork of Oasis, Verve and more up in Manchester Piccadilly
Danny Jones
If you’ve passed through Manchester Piccadilly of late, you might have noticed two things: one, it’s really quiet, and two, there’s loads of cool Britpop merch and memorabilia on display, including original Oasis, The Verve, Inspiral Carpets art and more – all courtesy of Microdot.
Set up as part of the city’s own BRITs celebrations, along with a raft of other nationwide festivities, as the annual music award ceremony prepares to make its Manc debut at the Co-op Live this month, the showcase features special edition frames and more, all pride of place in the middle of the train station.
This collection, simply entitled ‘A Microdot Design’, is all done by the legendary Brian Cannon, the graphic designer and art director behind so much recognisable visual material within the genre.
We recently had the honour of speaking to the man himself in person ahead of Piccadilly’s temporary closure; you can see our interview with him right here:
The Wigan-born artist and visionary didn’t just make promotional materials for some of the biggest bands in the 1990s; he’s responsible for what has gone on to become some of the most familiar iconography in British music history.
With this pop-up exhibit available for a limited time only, we strongly urge you to go along and, for once, take your time rather than rushing around the station as you peruse the boards placed right near the main entrance.
Charting his work from circa 1990 up until now, it’s crazy to see just how many of Brian and Microdot’s fingerprints are all over so many different bands and artists.
From native names like Oasis, The Verve and the Inspirals, as mentioned, as well as the likes of Cast, Super Furry Animals, Suede and Ash, plus so many more, this guy has been nothing short of prolific over the past few decades.
Audio North took a little tour of the King Street South unit last year in the lead-up to Oasis Live ’25 reunion world tour, and we felt like kids in a Britpop sweetshop.
While this site has sadly since closed, shutting up shop back in July, Brian’s mini, modest, but nevertheless magic Microdot Boutique up in the Lake District is still standing.
Located in the popular North West town and tourist attraction, Kendal, it’s worth a trip there to see more of his portfolio alone.
Currently on display at Manchester Piccadilly ahead of the full 2026 BRITs Week and shindig at Co-op Live, it’s one of the best completely free things you can do in town at the moment – but the exhibition finishes on Sunday, 1 March, so make sure you don’t miss it.
Speaking of the BRIT Awards, if you’re wondering what else is on as 0161 gets ready welcome them for their two-year stint (at least), look no further…