A father from Bexleyheath has described his shock at finding a "large piece of plastic" in a jar of pasta sauce.

Jon Wasteney bought the jar of sauce from Lidl in Bexleyheath Broadway, which is his regular supermarket.

Mr Wasteney told News Shopper he has brought the same pasta sauce several times and never had a problem with it, but this time he and his partner had a nasty surprise.

"We saw this big chunk in the jar and were worried," Mr Wasteney, who has a six-month-old baby, said.

After finding the foreign object in his sauce jar, Mr Wasteney and his partner contacted Lidl's customer service department to report the discovery.

"They're not very helpful. They want us to send the jar to them by freepost, but what if it gets lost in the post?

"We just need to know what it is as we've eaten this sauce so many times. We're quite concerned about it."

Mr Wasteney claims his partner has had to chase Lidl via email several times to try and get a more detailed response about the jar.

The parents have also been in touch with the food safety team at Bexley Council.

A Lidl spokesman said: "We were sorry to hear of this matter, as it is never our intention for a customer to be dissatisfied in any way.

"Following initial contact from the customer on 11th September, the matter was escalated to our quality assurance team who requested further information, including photography, and immediately launched an investigation with the supplier.

"As soon as the investigation has concluded, our teams will liaise with the customer directly to discuss any next steps.

"We only ever work with reputable accredited suppliers who have strict controls and procedures in place to ensure that our products meet the high standards demanded by us and by our customers.

"We are, therefore, very sorry that this was not the case on this occasion."