Rawtenstall takeaway make new burger after Facebook post goes viral

What began as seemingly innocent Facebook post about a man who purchased a £30 leg of lamb from Tesco has since become the talk of the town, spouting its own ‘lambgate’ and ‘Clivegate’ hashtags.

As a result, the community has launched fundraisers, written songs and some companies have even created lamb-inspired dishes for their menu.

Posting to Facebook group What’s On In Ramsbottom, at the weekend, Rozalia Linder wrote: “I sent Clive to Tesco for a leg of lamb… £30.86p. Absolutely mortified at the price!

“He did question the price and accepted the answer and paid. However, I’m not prepared to pay this.

"Some families don’t even have £30 a week to feed their children. Something needs to be done.

“I will be taking this item back to Tesco tomorrow and asking for my money back!”

So far, the post has received more than 900 interactions, 159 shares and 880 comments.

The Facebook group itself has been flooded with people curious about what happened to Clive and the leg of lamb.

Some business offered their support and to 'chip in' and help pay for the ‘pricey’ lamb joint.

One prankster even set up a Go Fund Me page called ‘Clive Aid’, using the viral social media post to raise funds for local foodbank, the Ramsbottom Pantry.

The viral post spread beyond Ramsbottom and into Lancashire, where local businesses decided to get involved in Clive’s ‘lambgate’.

On the back of the viral post, Rawtenstall's The Hut - Rossendale street food takeaway, created their very own ‘Clive Gate Lamb Burger’ which is now a permanent addition to their menu.

Clive Gate Lamb Burger from The Hut in Rossendale

Posting to Facebook yesterday (23 January), the Bury Road restaurant wrote: “Dear Clive of Ramsbottom..

“We want to help in any way we can and for that reason, we can confirm that The Hut Rossendale Street Food supports you brother, and will be launching…The Clive Gate Lamb Burger.

“We can see from the comments on What’s On Ramsbottom that you must be such a stand-up bloke with fine tastes. So just for you bud and anyone else. We are here if you need your fix.

“How do you like it? We are thinking grilled lamb, with rocket and garlic mint sauce with green leaf salad on a soft bun.

“‘Every Little Helps’ they say… so we have sourced our recipe on Tesco’s website as we know how much you love to shop there.

“Obviously, you can’t get it delivered to your house, and discretion is required. We can deliver to a secret location just get in touch please.”

The business didn’t stop there either as they also created a parody video of The Streets' song, Dry Your Eyes Mate, the lyrics of which were cleverly adjusted to reflect the viral Facebook post.

Sebastian Walsh, owner of the restaurant, said: “It’s been a bit of a whirlwind.

“When I saw the Facebook post going viral I was laughing my head off. It got my creative juices flowing… I thought ‘I can have some fun with this’.

“I made a post all around ‘Clive gate’ and decided to make a special burger in honour of him.

“I went to the butchers first thing in the morning (23 January) and we managed to pull it off. We launched it last night  and managed to sell a load of lamb burgers – and for a reasonable price too.

“We really just did it to get involved and have a laugh.

“I know a lot of money has been raised for a local pantry. It’s nice that people can come together on such a random post.”

Sebastian said the burger will now become a permanent fixture on the menu.

“The legs of lamb that I will be buying from my butcher will be cheaper than Tesco’s, I’m sure of it,” he joked.

The Lawrence hotel in Padiham even got involved in the social media joke and they even offered Clive a free lamb dinner.

Posting to Facebook, they wrote: “Clive, news has spread throughout the county and country.

“We are 20 minutes up the road at The Lawrence and if your craving 'the lamb' send us a message so you can come next Sunday and have one on us.”

Michael Huckerby, hotel director, said: “The world can seem like a pretty rubbish place recently, when we saw the Clive posted it really made us smile so we thought why not reward it with a free meal.” 

Clive’s family members have since posted an update about the viral Facebook post.

Carla Senior says Clive is her father and says she is glad it has brought some “smiles” to local people.

She said: “Clive, my dad, is absolutely fine.

“The leg of Lamb is being donated to Ramsbottom Pantry on Tuesday.

“I started seeing posts about #saveClive etc and got a little worried. Then when he didn't answer my phone calls, I remembered my mum telling me about this leg of lamb and It all came to light.

"The leg of Lamb is being donated to Ramsbottom Pantry on Tuesday (25 January).

“I'm glad it brought smiles to the people of Ramsbottom… enjoy your roasts everyone, my dad's having Schnitzels now instead of the lamb.”

Senior Waste Removals in Bury even posted a censored picture of the famous Clive to their Facebook post, who they say is the owner’s father-in-law.

Warren Senior with Clive and the leg of lamb (Photo: Senior Waste Removals)

Warren said: "We thought it would be rude not get a photo with Clive and the notorious leg of lamb before it's donated to Ramsbottom Pantry.

"We've blanked his face for his own safety, as he's already unsure of going back Tesco anytime soon!

"If anyone books our services this week and quotes "Leg of Lamb" we'll offer you 5 per cent discount on your waste removal and this will also get donated to Ramsbottom Pantry."

Warren Senior told the Lancashire Telegraph: “I can't believe how it has blown up from my mother-in-law writing and sharing a post onto our local Facebook page.

“Poor Clive, all he was doing was getting ready for his Sunday roast.

“It's been a breath of fresh air seeing the whole community come together and have a smile.

“There is too much doom and gloom these days in the news and people take life well too seriously.”