A STORY about a Basingstoke mum who found a poo in a shopping bag was one of the most read stories on The Gazette website from 2013.

We have compiled figures from last year, which show the top stories of 2013, read by thousands of Gazette online readers.

Top of the list was the live blog reporters ran in August following the murder of Steph Hollow, who was stabbed outside his home in Buckskin.

We brought you the latest updates from the scene as the tragedy unfolded, resulting in nearly 32,000 online hits.

Also among the most read stories was one about Hollywood actor Johnny Depp visiting a north Hampshire pub.

The Pirates of the Caribbean star left drinkers at The Cricketers, in Hartley Wintney, dumbstruck when he popped in for lunch in June.

Almost 17,000 of you read the story, putting it firmly in the top 10 for 2013.

A Basingstoke mum’s horrifying ordeal outside her Winklebury home in September was read by more than 22,000 people on The Gazette website.

Brave Laura Percival flung her four-year-old daughter to safety as a car careered towards her, crushing her against the side of her house.

But it was a rather unusual story which attracted mass attention, when Basingstoke mum, Caroline Bryne, discovered feaces in a plastic bag that contained food she had bought at the Co-op store, in Black Dam.

The story gained around 13,000 hits on The Gazette website, sparking debate among commenters keen to try and solve the mystery, and was shared by hundreds of Twitter users on the social networking site.

You can read some of the most read stories of 2013 by clicking on the related links.

*See this Thursday’s Gazette to for some of the best pictures taken by our photographers in 2013.