Somerset gimp fails to scare ‘two lads, a few beers down’

TWO chefs gave the “Somerset Gimp” a cigarette and told him to get home safe after an encounter on a quiet rural road.

Alex Warren, 19, and Charlie Bond, 20, were approached by a masked stranger in a bodysuit as they walked back from the pub in Cleeve, on Tuesday.

They then watched as he dropped to the floor and writhed in the dirt while “speaking some demon language”.

It is believed to be the latest appearance of a night stalker active in a sleepy corner of the West Country since 2018 – and the first time he has been filmed.

The clip shows the masked man sheepishly get to his feet and accept a cigarette from the laughing pair before stumbling off into the night.

Mr Warren can be heard saying: “Get home safe, alright?”

“I’ll try,” replied the stranger. Mr Warren told The Sunday Telegraph they were returning from celebrating Mr Bond’s birthday when the man made a “clear attempt” to intimidate them which “backfired”.

“He had latex gloves and was covered in an earthy liquid like he’d been rolling around in fields or dunking in septic tanks – he was quite pungent,” he said. The teenager claimed that once the “adrenaline kicked in” it dawned on the gimp-suited man that his strange stunt was impressing nobody.

“After a minute or two he realised that we are two lads, a few beers down. My mate is 6ft 9ins and a force to be reckoned with. Once the initial shock had turned into humour he got up and took the cigarette.

“I tried to talk to him – human to human – about what is going on and then he gets off. He takes the cigarette off the bench and starts walking away.

“You can clearly hear him saying ‘oh I’ll try it’. It was high pitched and quite different from writhing around on the floor speaking some demon language.”

Police deployed a search helicopter and dog unit after being phoned by the chefs, at around 1am.

A man in his 30s was subsequently arrested at a nearby address on suspicion of causing a public nuisance.

Officers are investigating whether the incident is linked to at least 16 others where residents in the neighbouring villages of Claverham and Yatton were confronted late at night by a grunting man in a gimp suit.