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Belper, Derbyshire — A Spudnapping Update

They've Taken Him.
This Is a Spudnapping.

No ransom note. Just a Facebook post.

🥔

The case is cracked — and the kidnappers confessed themselves. Belper Town Council have bundled our two-metre spud into the back of a van for "repairs". We're calling them the Slater the Traitor Collaborators. If our boy comes back chipped, someone is going to be in very hot oil.

Last known location: a council holding cell, allegedly "soaking" before a repaint

CCTV-style black-and-white image of Mr Potato Head sitting in the open back of a Belper Town Council van at night — caught in the act of being spudnapped

CCTV, 03:23am: the moment our spud was bundled into a Belper Town Council van. The evidence is damning.

Read the Ransom… er, Facebook Post Demand his safe return

The Confession

Most kidnappers send a ransom note. This lot tagged themselves in it.

Screenshot of a Belper Town Council Facebook post confirming Mr Potato Head has been temporarily removed for repair and repainting
Exhibit A: the confession, posted to Facebook by the kidnappers themselves.

For weeks Belper searched. We made posters. We made a website. We blamed the ghost of a man who left in 1789. And then the perpetrators simply… posted about it. No balaclava. No unmarked van. Just a public confession with the comments left on.

"Belper Town Council have approved the repair and repainting of Mr Potato Head, which is why he has been temporarily removed… please be assured we are taking good care of him."

"Taking good care of him." That's exactly what they all say. He's being held "temporarily". His face is being "repainted". Forgive us if we're a little fried — but are they actually mashing the repairs, or is our boy quietly being lined up for the chipper? Two centuries after Belper waved off Slater the Traitor, his successors run the council — so we're calling them what they are: the Slater the Traitor Collaborators.

In fairness — and we are nothing if not fair — this is genuinely good news. He's safe, he's getting a fresh coat of paint, and he's coming home. So we'll let them off the hook. This time. But we want him back with both arms, a smile, and absolutely no seasoning.

Status: Spudnapped — held in council custody 🥔🔒
SPUDNAPPED

Held against his will (he loves it here)

Mr Potato Head with the Belper Town Crier
Name
Mr Potato Head
Height
Approx. 2 metres
Origin
Pawtucket, Rhode Island, USA
Adopted Home
Belper, Derbyshire
Features
Pilgrim hat, buckled shoes, frequently missing arms
Last Seen
Being bundled off for "repairs"
Held By
Belper Town Council (the Slater the Traitor Collaborators)
Ransom
None demanded — suspiciously, they're paying

Status: Spudnapped — please return unfried

A Tale of Two Towns

How industrial espionage led to a giant potato

Mr Potato Head in Belper
🇬🇧

Belper

Derbyshire, England

Home of Strutt's Mills

UNESCO World Heritage

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Mr Potato Head statue at Hasbro headquarters in Pawtucket
🇺🇸

Pawtucket

Rhode Island, USA

Home of Hasbro

Birthplace of Mr Potato Head

In 2001, Belper's twin town of Pawtucket, Rhode Island — home to Hasbro, the creators of Mr Potato Head — gifted the town a two-metre statue of its most famous toy. Dressed as English settler William Blackstone in buckled shoes and a Quaker hat, he was a gloriously eccentric celebration of the bond between two towns connected by one very cheeky bloke from the 1700s.

Part industrial heritage. Part international friendship. Part giant potato. It suited Belper perfectly.

Mr Potato Head on the lawn in Belper
In happier times — on the lawn in Belper
Mr Potato Head still standing proudly in 2023
Still standing proudly, 2023

Meet the Slater the Traitor
Collaborators

A 236-year-old grudge, and the council who inherited it.

Mr Potato Head in Belper
If he's been chipped, someone will be in hot oil.

1789 — The Original Betrayal

Slater Steals Belper's Secrets

Samuel Slater, born and raised in Belper, apprenticed at Jedediah Strutt's cotton mill. He memorised every detail of Arkwright's water-powered spinning machines — then, disguised as a farmer, boarded a ship to America. Britain was furious. Belper called him "Slater the Traitor."

1793 — America Gets Rich

He Rebuilds Belper's Mills in Pawtucket

Using nothing but his memory, Slater recreated the Belper mill system in Pawtucket. President Andrew Jackson called him the "Father of the American Industrial Revolution." By 1835, he owned 13 mills and was worth over a billion in today's money. Belper got a thank you card. Eventually.

2001 — The Potato Arrives

Pawtucket's Gift

Centuries later, Pawtucket — now home to Hasbro — sent Belper a two-metre Mr Potato Head. Part apology, part cultural exchange, entirely ridiculous. But was the spud really a gift... or a Trojan Potato?

Now — The Spudnapping

The Council Bundle Him "Off For Repairs"

And so we arrive at the present day. Belper Town Council — the modern heirs to Slater's legacy — quietly carted Mr Potato Head off and, when the town noticed, posted a confession on Facebook. He's "temporarily removed". He's being "repainted". And please, whatever you do, don't ask questions. First our mill secrets, then our potato. We're not saying he's for the chipper — we're just saying nobody's seen the receipts.

The Chaotic Life of Mr Potato Head

A brief history of vandalism, spudnapping, and resilience

2001

The Grand Arrival

A mystery gift from Pawtucket is unveiled in Ripley Market Place. It's a giant Mr Potato Head dressed as a settler. Locals are mixed in their reception.

2002

Spudnapped

The "Potato Liberation Front" wraps Mr Potato Head in tin foil and deposits him on the Safeway roundabout. Yes — the Potato Liberation Front.

2002–07

Drunken Attacks

He becomes a regular casualty of Belper nightlife. Knocked over repeatedly by revellers after closing time.

c. 2007

Vegetable Witness Protection

For his own safety, he's relocated to American Adventure theme park in Shipley — under constant supervision.

2008

The Missing Years Begin

American Adventure closes. Mr Potato Head disappears entirely. Six years, unaccounted for.

c. 2014

Dumped on a Doorstep

He reappears, anonymously left at the Drop Inn Youth Centre. Tattered and worn, but intact. The youth centre kindly gives him a makeover.

2015

Banned from the Bus Station

The council considers mounting him atop the bus station. Health & safety intervene: "If high winds got hold of him, the Belper spud could fly off and cause a serious injury."

2015–17

Arms Removed. Twice.

At Belper Community Cottage, his arm is ripped off in 2015 and again in 2017. Staff from Gulliver's Kingdom reattach the limb. He writes on Facebook: "I want to stay in Belper and make people smile but sometimes they are not nice to me, folks."

c. 2021

De Bradelei Courtyard

He finds a quieter life at De Bradelei Shopping Village. Selfies with visitors. Smiles all round. Finally at peace.

2026

Missing Again

Mr Potato Head vanishes from De Bradelei. The town searches. Posters go up. A website is built. Slater the Traitor is, naturally, the prime suspect.

June 2026

The Spudnapping Confession

Belper Town Council post on Facebook: they've bundled him off for "repair and repainting" and are "taking good care of him". Case cracked. We hereby christen them the Slater the Traitor Collaborators — and we'll be watching the courtyard, peeling our eyes for his return.

The Ransom Demands

We have no money — so these are our terms.

1

Proof of Life

The council promised a repair, a repaint, and a safe return. We want regular spud-sightings until our boy is back on his plinth.

2

Return Him Unfried

Fresh paint, both arms, that big daft grin — and absolutely no chipping, mashing, roasting or seasoning. He comes home whole.

3

No More Spudnappings

No more topplings, no more vanishings. A permanent, protected home for our wonderfully ridiculous ambassador.

Keep an Eye on the Spud

The council say they're footing the bill for his repairs and have asked people not to donate — so don't! Just keep watching the courtyard, share his story, and make sure the Slater the Traitor Collaborators don't leave him in hot oil.

Spotted him back home? Tell us

Further Reading