Rotorua Hallensteins shopper Noel Hyde tells of being locked inside store

Noel Hyde stood inside Hallensteins behind the locked roller doors and stared past the mannequins in the window - and thought ''oh hell, how long am I going to be stuck in here?"

All Hyde wanted was a nice linen jacket - something light, a little bit formal, but which could also be worn with a pair of jeans.

Being a smart shopper, he did a quick Google search the night before his shopping mission. Something popped up from Hallensteins that took his fancy.

So at midday on Monday, he went to Rotorua Central and zipped into Hallensteins to find the jacket.

It didn't turn out to be what he wanted, but he decided to whip into the changing rooms and try it on anyway.

He checked himself out in the mirror and then ''wandered out in my own little world and put the jacket back on the rack and then went to walk out".

But Hyde says he was faced with locked roller doors. He says he looked around and noticed everything seemed darker.

"I yelled out, 'Hello, is there anybody there?'.

"I was completely confused and was staring through the mannequins in the shop window looking out to all the shoppers in the mall going back and forward."

Hyde says it dawned on him he was locked inside the store.

"Then I thought, 'oh s***, I've left my phone in the car' ... I thought, this isn't going to look good if the police turn up."

He says it was only a few minutes before the store worker returned, flanked by two mall security guards.

"I'm not sure why they were there, but maybe I set off an alarm.''

The worker apologised, he says.

Noel Hyde has a laugh about his experience after being accidentally trapped in a Rotorua menswear store. Photo / Ben Fraser

He says he was rapt a Hallensteins representative called him on Tuesday and apologised and offered to send him a voucher.

"I told them it was all good and I've got no qualms."

The voucher was emailed to him that same day.

The Rotorua Daily Post has approached Hallensteins for comment.

Meantime, Hyde is back on the hunt for that linen jacket and says it was just a "quirky little life experience" that makes him laugh.