Mum's horror after discovering a 'knife' in her toddler's Poundland toy set
When you buy toys for your children, you expect them to be age-appropriate and ready to play with.
But one woman was left mortified when she claimed a knife was hidden in the £4.99 toy she bought for her toddler from Poundland - and she vowed never to stop at the budget store again.
Allie Atherton, 32, was horrified to discover a 'Stanley-style knife' with a retractable blade in her four-year-old son Leonardo's toy shopping basket. She bought him a treat on November 6, 2023, in the Poundland store in Newark-on-Trent, Nottinghamshire, but when the pair opened the toy together, Allie said that there was a green blade at the bottom of the basket, underneath the plastic groceries.
The mum was horrified at the alleged discovery (Kennedy News and Media)The mum-of-one immediately snatched the knife away from Leonardo and contacted the supermarket chain for an explanation as she was stunned. Allie thinks that the knife may have accidentally been placed with the toy when it was packed in the factory.
The situation has caused her to lose faith in the shop after the shocking alleged discovery - as she fears her little one may have injured himself if she wasn't nearby to get rid of the potentially dangerous item.
'I don't want children staying up late at weekends - I really need adult time'
Poundland said they were "grateful the knife didn't cause any injury" and apologised for the "unexpected find" - stating they had asked their supplier to investigate the matter.
Allie was concerned her son could've hurt himself (Kennedy News and Media)
The knife was rusty (Kennedy News and Media)Allie claimed: "I'd taken my little boy shopping. He'd been good so I thought I'd treat him to a toy. He's very much into his toy kitchens - all the fake food stuff. So I got him a toy shopping basket from Poundland. We got home and I opened it for him. I saw something was laid down with the fruit. It was barely visible at first until I opened the package up.
"I thought it was a fabric carrier bag and stuck my hand in it but it was solid. I picked it up and saw a blade was sticking out. I was speechless, I said 'Leo get away from this basket'. I couldn't believe it. It's come from the warehouse where they're packing all the stuff so I'm guessing it's been put in there and forgotten about.
"He could've cut his fingers and got sepsis because the knife was all rusty and horrible. He wanted to get stuck in straight away so I'm so glad I was there with him. Imagine if I had just left him to it - it's not worth thinking about."
Allie claims the supermarket offered her £20 in vouchers as compensation but said the incident led her to swear off the discount store for good. The distressed mum said: "I rang up and they told me to email with proof of evidence. I got a reply within a week or so to say they'd sent some vouchers out. I got four £5 vouchers but I don't actually want to go shopping there anymore after what happened.
"I was shocked and mortified. I felt we were fobbed off with some vouchers when something really bad could've happened. I was regular, I used to shop there about once a week but now I won't go there after what happened. I do genuinely miss the shop for my bath products but I just don't trust them now. You don't know what's in there. Now I always open toys first just in case. You can never be too careful."
A Poundland spokesperson said: "We're really sorry for this unexpected find and I know our customer service team has apologised to the customer directly. As she knows, we've asked the supplier to investigate precisely what happened and we're just grateful the knife didn't cause any injury. We really appreciate her telling us about it."
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