AN ORPINGTON woman says she could have been seriously ill after she bought some pastrami from Lidl - only to discover it was two weeks out of date.

Liz Falkingham, a carer from Leesons Way, was heading home on December 11 when she decided to pop into Lidl in Beckenham High Street.

The 54-year-old told News Shopper: "Once I'd bought the items I came straight home and, because it was lunch time, I thought I would have something to eat.

"I picked up the pastrami and I thought 'that looks a bit funny'.

"Then when I opened it and picked it up it felt all slimy. It was rank.

"When I looked at the packaging was like 'Oh my God it is two weeks out of date'.

"You'd think something might be two days out of date but two weeks is ridiculous."

The 54-year-old immediately rang customer services, but says the response she received was entirely unsatisfactory.

She said: "The woman on the phone told me I could take it back to the store and they would exchange it for a new one.

"I said: 'that is not good enough, I am not taking this back'."

Instead Mrs Falkingham sent a letter of complaint along with photographs of the offending pastrami and her receipt.

News Shopper:

She added: "They sent a letter back saying they were 'extremely sorry' and gave me a £5 voucher.

"But it really isn't good enough - it is really dangerous.

"I am a carer and I could have given this to one of the people I look after.

"They could have got terrible food poisoning. I could have got terrible food poisoning.

"£5 is an insult."

A spokeswoman for Lidl said: "We were disappointed to see this and would like to thank Ms Falkingham for bringing this to our attention.

"We have strict processes in place across all Lidl UK stores to ensure that any product does not exceed its use by date.

"We are currently investigating this with the store involved and will look at ways of making sure that this doesn't reoccur.

"We apologise to Ms Falkingham for any upset or distress caused."