Meet the Portsmouth woman dressing up as a dinosaur to keep children entertained during lockdown

Self-confessed dinosaur nut Hannah Pilcher has taken to the streets of Hilsea and North End each day to say ‘hi’ to children stuck in isolation at home.

The 29-year-old of Oriel Road, North End, came up with the idea as a way to entertain her friend Holly Gregory’s young lad, Owen, on Sunday.

The heartwarming encounter was filmed and shared online and has since wracked up more than 2,500 hits on Facebook.

And seeing the reaction of Owen and those on social media, Hannah has now started more ‘dino patrols’ dressed as Hannahsaurus-Rex.

She spends about 40 minutes plodding about in her 7ft-tall inflatable get-up, waving to children from their doorsteps and entertaining them.

Hannah said: ‘The smiles on their faces is just priceless. Owen’s reaction was beautiful, it was heartwarming and he was so excited.’

Hannah, who is employed as a nursery worker with an agency, said work had dried up since the lockdown and that she missed entertaining children.

Speaking of the inspiration for her idea, she said: ‘I have got a big love of dinosaurs; all my friends know me as the girl who loves dinosaurs.

‘While I was bored in isolation I started scrolling through Amazon and I saw this £50 T-Rex suit. I thought I could do some funny videos to pass the time so I bought it.’

After completing her first walk on Sunday, Hannah then set up a page and Facebook and shared that on a coronavirus support network for Portsmouth on social media.

Since then she has been sharing live videos of her walk, with families putting in requests for her to stop by.

She added: ‘It’s just gone nuts. Loads of people have been commenting and sharing (the videos). It has been so positive. The £50 I have spent has been worth every penny.’

Hannah insisted she would continue doing walks throughout the north of the city during the enforced lockdown.

She added it was key to keep people’s morale up while stuck indoors.

‘Who isn’t going to smile if they see a 7ft dinosaur walking past their window,’ she said.

To follow Hannah, search ‘Hannahsaurus-Rex’ on Facebook.

Last week The News reported that a dinosaur had been spotted shopping at Tesco in Northarbour and Asda in Havant and Jollyes pet store – although that Tyrannasaurus said then that he was not ready to reveal his identity.

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