A horrified mum sounded the alarm after a child discovered a small blade in chips bought on a Kent pier.

Ingrid Beeforth says the concerning find was made at The View Fish and Chips hut in Herne Bay on Saturday evening.

The 40-year-old had taken her son Russell, 12, and his friends crabbing when one of them, Leo, bought a portion to share with the group.

“They all dug in and were enjoying the chips,” she said,

“After a minute or two, Leo said he wanted some ketchup but returned after a minute or two empty-handed as the ketchup was 60p a sachet. He thought this was too expensive.

“It soon turned out to be perhaps a good thing that he never got the ketchup as just five minutes later, Leo approached me with a chip on his fork and what I perceived to be a razor blade and said ‘look what was in my chips’.

“I was shocked and horrified at this discovery and the subsequent thoughts of what could’ve happened had Leo or one of the other boys not seen the blade and bitten into it.

“It later occurred to me that had the chips been covered in ketchup, it would’ve been even less likely that the blade was spotted.”

Ms Beeforth, who comes from the town’s Greenhill area, says she immediately returned the chips to complain.

But she reports staff claimed the item was, in fact, not a razor blade, but a piece of machinery used to slice chips.

“When I approached the counter a young girl who was serving came to the counter. I said ‘excuse me, my son’s friend has just found a razor blade in his chips’,” Ms Beeforth said.

“She took one look at the box of chips and replied ‘no, it’s not a razor blade, it has come off the machine we use to cut the chips’.

“She took the box from me and threw it in the bin along with the leftover chips.

“She got £5 out and said ‘I’ll give you twice the money back, there you go’.”

Ms Beeforth, who had packed sandwiches for the children, says Leo was then asked to pay when he returned to the stand for replacement chips.

“He came back with some chips but said the lady had expected him to pay for them - he explained that she had thrown the rest of chips away and he did then get them for free,” Ms Beeforth added.

Ms Beeforth has vowed never to return after the children were left disappointed.

“I was not happy with their response - I would’ve liked a sincere apology and for them to have acknowledged the severe consequences that potentially could have been caused,” she said.

“It has definitely put me off going back there.”

A View boss expressed they were “extremely sorry” in a message to Ms Beeforth the following day.

“We had done our investigations and come [sic] to a realisation what has happened,” says the text, seen by KentOnline.

“I would really like to invite you down to the pier to go through everything with you, how we have resolved the source of the problem and what steps we have put in place so it never happens again.

“We have been trading on the pier for almost 10 years and have never had anything like this before.

“I have informed the environmental officer at (Canterbury City Council) and have also contacted the manufacturer of the unit in question for any information on how this could [have] happened without warning.”

A spokesperson for Canterbury City Council said: “We are aware of what was posted online and our environmental health team is investigating.”

KentOnline contacted The View for a comment but is yet to receive one.