RIP WIlliam the Worm

Spare a thought, though, for William the Worm, who has become an Internet sensation only after his untimely death - in a cucumber in Rotherham.

Discovered by joker Wes Metcalfe, William is the subject of a comical music-inspired exchange between the shopper and Tesco’s customer services department, and now has his own golden plaque outside a supermarket in Dinnington.

Confused? Let me explain further.

It all started when Wes found a worm -thought to be a flatworm - inside the wrapping of a Tesco cucumber.

In a message to the company on Facebook, he observed: “I thought \_ at last, finally Tesco have come up with something to beat Aldi’s free spider with bananas offer.”

He went on: “I excitedly shouted the kids downstairs to come and meet our new pet. 

“We decided to name him William. 

“Our new pet appeared to be very unresponsive, but we just put it down to him being sleepy and decided to give him some time to come round.

“Twenty-four hours later and William still hasn’t moved, on closer inspection he seems quite flat and I think he may be dead. 

“I’m no vet but I think the tight shrink wrap on the cucumber may have squashed and killed William.

“I now have three very upset children, a worm funeral to plan and to top it all off I’ve totally lost my taste for cucumber sandwiches which, as everyone knows, are a favourite at any wake.

“So come on Tesco, wiggle your way out of this one!?!?”

To his credit, Rob, a member of Tesco’s customer services team, responded in good humour, conceding: “I’m afraid I won’t be able to make it on the day, unfortunately”, but posting a poem titled An Ode to William, noting: “he wriggled many miles, he gave us many smiles”.

Not to be outdone, Wes responded with his own poem noting how “before his death William was completely unknown, spending his days in the mud on his own, but now his name has travelled wide and far William the worm - the viral superstar!”

He also uploaded a photo of William’s grave - complete with lolly stick cross and Tesco condolences card - prompting Rob to rewrite the lyrics of Oasis hit Wonderwall in William’s honour.

As Wes observed in a message to Rob: “It’s been an emotional roller coaster, there’s been poetry, there’s been songs, we’ve discovered a new genre of music.”

And if all that wasn’t bizarre enough, the saga continued as Wes \_ who has been sent a gift card by Tesco after noting “worm funerals cost money” \_ installed his own memorial golden plaque for the dear departed worm on a bench outside the Dinnington store.

He sent Tesco a message with his own rewriting of the lyrics to the Eminem hit Stan and attaching a photo of the plaque, which has been shared on Facebook more than 30,000 times and prompted more than 10,000 responses.

Fellow social media users told how the post had inspired them to listen to the 2000 Eminem track again, while one suggested William’s story should be turned into an advert.

German musician Marco Boehm even posted a video of his own musical tribute to the platyhelminth.

A memorial site called RIP William The Worm has 1,800 likes.

Tesco staff have even joined in, with a photo showing them “paying tribute” to William at the bench.

Wes said: “Staff at Tesco have been great sports by confirming the plaque is here to stay and sending a picture of them grieving by the plaque.”