A mum-of-seven who had her top 'shredded' by a metal pole outside an Aldi fears the duct tape covering its sharp edges will not keep a child from harm.

Katie O'shea, who lives in Sittingbourne, was bringing her weekly shop back to the car when her white t-shirt was torn on the pole.

The 32-year-old said: "I had my trolley full of shopping and I was walking back to the car when I felt my top slice open.

"I wasn't so worried about my top, but more about the fact the damaged piece of metal is at a child's head height.

"It just shredded my top so I pushed my daughter away from it and back to the car because she was dangerously close to hurting herself too."

After the incident, which happened around midday on Sunday, August 28, Katie returned to the store and asked to speak to a manager but was told that they were not available.

Despite this, Aldi staff did tell Katie to go and buy a new top and bring back the receipt so they could reimburse her.

The staff member then decided against this and asked her to instead wait for the manager to call her. This still has not happened.

When visiting the shop again yesterday, Katie noted that poles, which are meant to have metal covers over them, had all been duct taped once more.

Katie, whose partner has terminal cancer, said: "Most of the poles outside the supermarket are damaged at the top.

"Some had duct tape around them before this incident but when I returned yesterday they had all been covered, the sharp metal bit had been pushed in as well.

"But they all need to be sorted out properly and professionally before a child is seriously hurt.

"All it takes is for someone to pick off the duct tape or for it to rain and the sharp edges will be dangerous again.

"This is not a long-term solution."

Katie posted about the pole on social media and other shoppers agreed with her concerns.

One said that the pole had been an issue for more than a week.

They commented: "Saw this on Wednesday and popped inside and spoke to a lady who works there.

"Really bad that they haven’t done something."

Someone else said: "They did have tape over it last week. Looks really bad if a child walks in to it. Should have fixed it by now."

Aldi explained that the poles had been damaged by vandals.

A spokesperson said: “We are sorry to hear of Ms O’shea’s experience caused by vandalism outside our Sittingbourne store.

"We have arranged for repairs to be made as soon as possible.”