A 21-year-old man got more than he bargained for when he bought a bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich from a supermarket store in Hopton-on-Sea, near Great Yarmouth.

Alex Moughton picked up a pre-packaged BLT from the Co-op petrol station in Lowestoft Road, Hopton, hoping it would stop his stomach rumbling on the way to work.

But after one bite of the Co-op own sandwich Mr Moughton didn't feel like eating anything at all.

What he felt was sick after finding what he believes to be a piece of old chewing gum inside the snack.

'I bit into the sandwich and immediately tasted something minty,' said Mr Moughton, who lives in Lound, near Lowestoft, and works at Lound Plant Hire.

'I immediately spat it out. I saw it but I couldn't believe what it was. It made me feel sick.'

After the stomach-churning discovery, Mr Moughton called the customer helpline on the back of the sandwich packaging and is now sending the BLT... with extra G off to the Co-op for the supermarket giant to investigate.

'It's turned everyone I know off from buying those pre-packaged sandwiches,' said Mr Moughton.

'I certainly won't be getting another anytime soon. You hear about these things, don't you? It's like Russian Roulette with that kind of food.'

After being contacted by the Mercury, a spokesman for the Co-operative Food group said: 'We pride ourselves on the high quality of our products, and take any complaints seriously.

'We have received a complaint from a customer that a foreign object was found in a sandwich bought from our store in Hopton-on-Sea.

'We immediately made the supplier aware of the issue and arranged for the product to be returned, so that we can investigate this along with the supplier and identify the source.

'We have apologised to the customer, and will keep him informed of progress.'