Parents in the Wirral, near Liverpool, have reacted with alarm after their young children were handed folded-paper hedgehog ornaments that turned out to be made from the pages of an erotic novel. The seemingly harmless gifts were distributed to children inside Tesco and Morrisons stores by an elderly couple who claimed they crafted them from old books as a hobby, raising safeguarding concerns among families in the area.

One of the ornaments was reportedly made from The Fermata, Nicholson Baker's controversial 1994 novel containing graphic sexual content. Grandmother Linda Fortune said her daughter Ellise and four-year-old granddaughter were approached by a man and woman thought to be in their late 60s, who asked the child if she 'could have something' before handing over the item. After Linda warned other parents online, she says seven further families came forward reporting similar encounters, and she rejected any suggestion it was an innocent mistake.