A family outing to Hollywood Bowl in Crawley took an unexpected turn when a five-year-old boy discovered a bag of what his parents claim as being cannabis inside a toy egg from an arcade machine. The machine, popular among children for dispensing emoji keyrings, became the center of controversy when the child’s parents found the possible illegal substance.
The incident occurred at the Hollywood Bowl arcade, where the young boy, Seb, was excited to use the golden egg machine. His parents were astounded to find that instead of a toy, the egg contained a small bag of what allegedly looked like cannabis. Upon reporting the discovery to the staff at the front desk, the parents were surprised by the lack of urgency with which the matter was handled. According to them, the machine continued to operate and no immediate action was taken to inspect other eggs.
“This is a children’s machine! I still just cannot believe how blasé they were that there was a bag of weed in their machine,” said the boy’s mother, reflecting the parents’ disbelief and concern over the incident. They were informed that the eggs were supplied by an external vendor and that the staff onsite were not responsible for their contents.
However, Hollywood Bowl’s corporate office provided a statement to Sussex News: A spokesperson stated, “We take customer welfare extremely seriously and were shocked to learn of an alleged illegal substance found inside a toy egg in one of our Crawley centre’s arcade machines. The centre team acted immediately and removed the substance and machine from the arcade floor as soon as it was reported.”
Further measures included a thorough check of the machine, which confirmed no other suspicious substances were present, and an ongoing review of CCTV footage to determine if the machine had been tampered with. The police have also been notified of the incident.
Sussex Police have confirmed they were called to a report of suspected drugs found at Hollywood Bowl, London Road, Crawley on 27 April.
Hollywood Bowl has apologised for any distress caused and thanked the customer for bringing this serious matter to their attention, emphasising that this appears to be an isolated incident. The company reassured the public that they are taking all necessary steps to ensure the safety and security of their patrons, especially the youngest ones.
