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A shopper has said his family found a dead bird in a prepared salad he bought at a supermarket and served for dinner.

Paul Streeter from Weare, Somerset, said his girlfriend was sick after the carcass was discovered in a baby leaf and rocket salad bought at Tesco's Burnham-on-Sea branch.

He said: "I couldn't believe my eyes. It was horrific. She was seconds away from eating it."

Tesco said it would be conducting a "thorough investigation".

Mr Streeter said he visited the shop on Saturday and came home to prepare a meal of pizza and salad for his girlfriend and children.

He emptied the salad into a bowl and presented it to his family at the dinner table before returning to the kitchen.

'Decomposed and skeletal'

He said: "Suddenly my girlfriend shrieked and couldn't believe what she'd found on her plate.

"She had ladled the salad onto her plate and thought she was cutting into one of the dark leaves and what she found was a dead bird.

"I didn't know what to think. I was concerned about the health of my family as they had eaten some of the salad."

He said the bird was "decomposed and skeletal".

A Tesco spokesperson said: "We take matters of this kind extremely seriously and are very disappointed to learn of this incident.

"Ensuring our food is of the highest quality is extremely important to us and we and our suppliers have robust systems in place to prevent foreign objects getting into products.

"We are in contact with the customer and have apologised."