Customer left ‘speechless’ after finding dead newt in her Co-op salad

An unsuspecting customer got more than she bargained for when she found a dead newt in her lunchtime snack.

Ruby Long, from Old Windsor, made the grim discovery after she bought a Harissa Chicken Flatbread Salad from the Co-op store in Arthur Road on Thursday, September 1.

After buying her lunch, 20-year-old Ruby returned to her work at Horler and Associates and was about to tuck in when she spotted the dead green creature in the filling.

Ruby told the Express: “The wrap had moved around a bit on the walk back so I moved a bit of the chicken and found a dead newt in the filling.

“I was sitting there speechless and my colleague Carlie asked what was up with me.

“We both couldn’t believe it. If I hadn’t rearranged the filling I definitely would’ve eaten it without knowing.”

Still reeling from her lunchtime surprise, Ruby got her friend to return the flatbread to the store immediately.

Shop staff said it would be frozen and sent to head office for inspection and then offered a coupon to apologise.

But former Windsor Girls’ School student Ruby said she wants to know how a dead newt could make it past the store’s safety checks.

She added: “I shouldn’t have given them the evidence because now they can just pretend like nothing’s happened.

“They think settling it with a coupon is justifiable.

“I want to know how on earth it managed to get there and what checks they are carrying out because if a newt can get in there who knows what else could?”

A statement from Co-op said the contaminated product had now been returned to its supplier, which has agreed to investigate the matter.

It added: "A complaint was made in store by a customer on September 1. We have given them a full apology and refund, along with a gesture of goodwill in light of the distress and inconvenience this issue may have caused."