When Sue Mantle from South Oxhey sat down to supper with her family, little did she know what was hiding in her food.

But as she ate her meal, she discovered the added crunch was not due to the tender leaf salad she had bought from Morrisons supermarket, but a cockroach.

Ms Mantle, 53, of Culverdern Road, explained: “I was visiting my father who lives in Bognor Regis.

“He’s a diabetic, so I like to go to see him to ensure he’s eating correctly.

“On my way, I popped into Morrisons to buy some food for dinner.

“We were sat in front of the telly eating, when I bit something really hard. I looked down at my plate and there was half a cockroach.

“I couldn’t stop being sick, I was absolutely disgusted.”

Ms Mantle, a cleaner, is convinced she may have eaten the other half of the cockroach. She said she was forced to throw out all of their meals, and visit another supermarket to buy dinner again.

Ms Mantle said: “It’s not what you expect to find in your dinner is it? It had to come from the bag of Morrisons's lettuce.

“I wouldn’t mind, but I had bought the 'washed and ready to eat chopped tender leaf salad', so there is no excuse as to why something as disgusting as a cockroach was inside the bag.

“Surely they have people to check what they’re putting on the shelves.”

According to Ms Mantle, she returned to the store based in Bognor Regis with the salad and insect.

Morrisons staff took it in for analysis and wrote to Ms Mantle with an apology and an in-store credit note for £10.

But Ms Mantle has said this is not enough.

She added: “I think it’s an insult. The first meal cost me in £13.56. I had to throw it all out. Then I had to go and buy another at a cost of about £25. “What’s £10 going to cover? One of their salads? No thanks.”

A letter sent by Morrisons’s customer services department to Ms Mantle said the insect was not a cockroach but a moth, and that £10 was considered sufficient compensation.

Ms Mantle said: “It’s the largest moth I’ve ever seen, I’m sure it was a cockroach.

“But that’s not the point. When I buy ‘washed, ready to eat salad’ I don’t expect to find bugs, especially cockroaches in it.

“I’ve been a customer for many years, but this has definitely put me off buying their salads.”

Morrisons has offered an apology to Ms Mantle, and said it will review the case.