You may have spotted an owl hiding away in Cooper’s Square, but have you ever wondered why it might be there?

The statue of an owl has been sitting inside the window of the shopping centre looking out towards Burton Place for nearly four years, going unnoticed by many of the thousands of people who shop there every week.

Centre manager David Chadfield has all the answers about the mysterious bird and why it is there. He said: “It’s a device to scare away the pigeons, and stop them from coming inside the centre.

“It seemed to work quite well when we first put it in four years ago, but I think they have got used to it now.”

Before the benches were removed, pigeons swarmed the area outside the entrance to the shopping centre

In recent years, the pigeons have been a real nuisance in the town centre, and in August 2016, the Mail reported that a pigeon had attacked a child, snatching her bacon sandwich from her hand.

It is hoped that the owl figure will continue to scare pigeons away, leaving shoppers alone on busy days in Burton town centre.