A CEREBRAL palsy sufferer nearly choked to death on a lump of metal in her ready meal.

Sarah Judge, 27, of Claremont Heights, Colchester, was sitting down for a meal with her mother when she came across the metal in a Tesco Chinese chicken curry.

Mum Vera Seaman, 50, had bought it as part of a £3.75 Shanghai Garden Meal Bag for two, from the Tesco store in High Woods, Colchester.

She said: “We were sitting eating it when my daughter started to choke.

“She suffers from slight cerebral palsy, but managed to get it out of her mouth.

“I could not believe it was in there. It was about an inch long and I think it may have been brass. Maybe it came off one of their machines.”

Mrs Seaman, a sheltered housing warden, was shaking so much she called her friend, who took her back to the store.

She claims she was offered her money back and told she would hear from head office in one to two weeks, but she wants the ready meals taken off the shelves and checked.

Mrs Seaman, who has had to cope with the death of her husband this year, said: “I dread to think what could have happened. How did it get in there?

“My daughter was in shock, too.

“It is ridiculous. I will never buy a ready meal like this again in my life.”

Mrs Seaman lost her husband John, 60, who died from heart disease they did not know he was suffering from.

They had just renewed their wedding vows for her 50th birthday present and her daughter had bought her mum the holiday of a lifetime to Malaysia – meaning she was away from him for the first time in their marriage when he died.

She said to then see her daughter choking, and think what might have been, brought it all back.

A spokesman for Tesco said: “We take these matters very seriously and will come back to the customer when we have conducted a thorough investigation.”