A HAIRDRESSER has spoken of her shock after reportedly finding a grasshopper missing a leg in her Tesco salad.

Middlesbrough woman Kirsty Reidy says she was enjoying lunch at work when she encountered an unwelcome addition to her bowl of Tesco’s Simple Salad.

Bringing her fork to her mouth, she suddenly realised that on the end of it was an almost complete grasshopper.

Flinging the cutlery away in panic, Mrs Reidy was horrified to think that she had probably already ingested the rest of the insect, which was nestled into the “crunchy mix of salad and vegetables”.

The Northern Echo:

GRASSHOPPER SALAD: Kirsty Reidy entertained friends with news of her lunch

A brave colleague retrieved the creature while another workmate ran to the toilet to be sick as Mrs Reidy marched back to Tesco to demand a refund.

She said staff members visibly “borked” after being confronted with her new friend and offered to give her a new salad, free of charge.

The Northern Echo:

TESCO SALAD: A grasshopper was reportedly discovered in this lunch

Mrs Reidy said: “They asked if I wanted another one, I told them not really and got my money back instead.

“I found it in my box of crunchy salad and I suppose it was definitely crunchy.

“I’m not really squeamish but I keep thinking about the missing leg, I must have eaten it with the rest of the salad.

“I’m getting in touch with Tesco but it’s not as bad as it would have been if it’d been in a can of baked beans or something, at least I know how it will have got into a salad.

“I went out for a meal with my friends last night and got a salad there but had to ask the waitress if it had any grasshoppers in it.

“I suppose it’s quite funny really but I wish it didn’t have the missing leg.”

The Northern Echo:

'IT'S FUNNY': Kirsty Reidy says she found an unwelcome guest in her food

A Tesco spokesman said: “We take great care when growing, picking and packaging all our fresh salads to ensure this kind of incident doesn’t arise. So we are sorry to hear about Kirsty’s experience and we are currently investigating what may have occurred on this instance at our Roman Road Express in Middlesbrough.”

Tesco also said it carries out manual inspections to help remove any contaminants and that all fresh salads are reviewed on a daily basis against measured quality standards.