A vegetarian woman says she feels disgusted after being served soup with meat in an Asda cafe.

Georgia Palmer, 21, visited the Broadstairs branch on Wednesday afternoon with her grandfather to shop and get a spot of lunch.

Having not eaten meat for the majority of her life, Ms Palmer says the thought of having ingested it makes her feel sick to her stomach.

The Margate resident also claims that when she attempted to remedy the situation, she was berated by one of the cafe workers – leaving her embarrassed.

Asda bosses have apologised for the “honest mistake” and say they are pleased Ms Palmer accepted their goodwill gesture of a £20 voucher.

But Ms Palmer says more care must be taken to avoid a situation like this in the future – pointing out that if someone was allergic it could have far more serious consequences.

“I appreciate the gesture to say sorry but it really isn’t enough for what has happened,” she said.

“Staff should always check to make sure that the food they are serving is up to quality standards as this could have gone a very different way if I had been allergic and ended up having a serious health incident.

“I may not be vegetarian for religious reasons or allergies and it is my own personal choice – but I have beliefs and think of my own health.

“To me, it feels like I’ve spent over 14 years of my own life making my choices just for it to be ruined by a store that’s supposed to stick to standards provided by the government.”

Ms Palmer ordered food at about 1pm, which also included egg rolls and drinks for her grandad.

She says the soup tasted strange from the get-go but she initially mistook the strands of meat for mini noodles.

“She made me feel very small for doing nothing but being a customer...”

A couple of bites later, the former Hartsdown Academy pupil realised what had happened and immediately spat out the offending item into a napkin whilst trying not to be sick.

She says she alerted a cafe worker but was told there was no meat present.

Ms Palmer said: “The way the member of staff behaved towards me is not professional or correct. She made me feel very small for doing nothing but being a customer.

“I heard her shouting to staff and customers that I was lying and there is no meat in the vegetarian soup, which made me feel very anxious and accused.”

Ms Palmer then hurried out of the store – though later returned after being encouraged by family members.

A deputy manager then offered her the £20 voucher.

An Asda spokesperson said: "We always want customers to have a positive experience when dining in our cafes and we have apologised to Ms Palmer for what was an honest mistake.

“We are pleased that Ms Palmer has accepted our goodwill gesture and we look forward to seeing her again soon."