AN EBBW Vale woman says she was shocked to find a two-and-a- half-inch needle in a sausage she was cooking for her husband's lunch.

Irene Warren, of Canning Street, Cwm, claims she found the needle in a sausage she bought from the Iceland store in Ebbw Vale - although it was not the store's own-brand sausage.

Mrs Warren, 53, said: "I was just cutting the sausages apart from each other Wednesday lunchtime, when I could see something shining. It was a needle, about two and a half inches long."

Her husband, John, 50, added: "That needle could have stuck in the roof of our mouths or gone down into our stomachs."

Mr Warren, a self-employed electrician, added that the needle was just like a darning needle, with a large eye.

He has reported the incident to Iceland and has also spoken to the environmental health department of Blaenau Gwent council.

A spokeswoman for Iceland said: "Customer satisfaction is of the utmost importance to us and any complaint is taken very seriously.

"As soon as we were made aware of the complaint we contacted the manufacturer of the product. We understand the customer is now in direct contact with the manufacturer to discuss the alleged complaint. We will continue to monitor the situation."