An elderly woman said she almost had a heart attack when she poured a bag of chips onto a baking tray... and an eight-inch bolt fell out.

Jean Brown was preparing her dinner when she opened the bag of McCain home chips and the bolt landed painfully on her foot.

But the 85-year-old is more worried about the dangers her discovery might have caused to McCain factory workers.

Widow Mrs Brown, of Trevithick Drive, Temple Hill, said: "I almost had a heart attack when it fell out the bag and it really hurt when it landed on my foot - it's very heavy.

"But it worries me so much because it's such a big bolt. The bag was sealed when I got it so it must have fallen in while being packed.

"There may be people at a McCain factory in danger if they're working with unstable or broken equipment."

Mrs Brown - who worked as a waitress in the canteen of engineering company J & E Hall in Hawley Rd, Dartford - was bought the chips by one of her daughters from the nearby Co-operative store.

After her ordeal, the great-grandmother said: "I threw all the chips away because I was worried they might be contaminated.

"I have a freezer of other food, but I couldn't eat anything. I kept seeing horrible images of people working in the factory and having their arms ripped off as machinery fell on top of them."

Mrs Brown has often bought McCain products in the past, but despite the McCain slogan "It's All Good", she said there was nothing good about their customer service.

She added: "When we rang to complain, all the staff said was that I had to send the packet and bolt to them by post and that I would have to pay for postage.

"But I don't want to do that because things get lost in the post all the time and there's nothing stopping them from saying they didn't get it.

"They didn't offer to refund or compensate me either. It was all very upsetting and I'm still having nightmares about those factory workers."

Alex Mirzas, store manager at the Henderson Drive Co-op where the chips were bought, said: "I am very sorry for Mrs Brown.

"Because the product is external rather an our own branded goods we have no way of checking the contents before we sell it, unfortunately.

"I almost had a heart attack when it fell out the bag and it really hurt when it landed on my foot" - Jean Brown

"I understand the experience must have been very traumatic and if Mrs Brown would like to come in I am happy to have a chat with her and to refund her or replace the product."

A spokeswoman for McCain said: “McCain Foods is very sorry that Jean has reported to have found a foreign body and for any distress this has caused.

“Without seeing the item we are unable to make a judgement on its origin, but can reassure consumers that we have an automated metal detection facility at the packing stage in all our factories which rejects any metal objects.

“Therefore we cannot understand this could have happened.”

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