A robot vacuum cleaner ended up taking a bit of an unexpected journey far away from home when it managed to escape from a Cambridge Travelodge and started making off down the street.
In the end, the missing vacuum was gone for more than a day after it failed to stop and turn back at the entrance of the Orchard Park hotel in Cambridge last Thursday.
Whereas it usually just turns around and comes back across the floor of the building, on this occasion the device seemed to want to shake things up a bit and just kept going.
Staff at the hotel said that they had no idea where it was and added that it ‘could be anywhere’.
Once word reached social media of the vacuum’s disappearance many were fascinated by the quest that it had embarked on and hoped it would return safe.
As well as wishing an enjoyable journey, some pointed out that the robot vacuum should be OK because it ‘has no natural predators’.
Eventually, it did turn up.
The automated cleaning machine was discovered under a hedge on the Friday after a day outside in the big wide world.
Staff from the hotel had shared the news that the vacuum had gone missing on social media, appealing for people to keep their eyes peeled it and return it if they were to come across it.
The assistant manager said: "Today we had one of our new robot vacuums run for its life,
"They normally sense the lip at the entrance [to the hotel] and turn around, but this one decided to make a run for it."
Nobody spotted that the machine had made a daring bid for freedom until about 15 minutes after the fact.
Once it was realised, staff went out to look for it but didn’t have much luck.
It was simply decided that the vacuum must have disappeared forever.
The assistant manager did suspect that it could have been found and taken away by someone, but realised that the robot is compatible only with a docking and charging port at the hotel, and would therefore be ‘useless’ to anyone else.
Luckily for all concerned, the vacuum was eventually discovered by a cleaner underneath a hedge.
It is now ‘back sitting happily on a shelf with the rest of its robot vacuum family’ following an incredible adventure.
All’s well that ends well, eh?
Featured Image Credit: Google MapsTopics: UK News, Technology, Weird
Tom Wood