Three-inch blade found in bag of children's Halloween sweets bought from Poundland

Blade found in a pack of Witches Broomsticks purchased from a Poundland store in Aberdeen

Poundland has removed the product from all of its stores while the incident is investigated



Stunned: Nurse Peter McDougall found this blade inside a pack of Halloween sweets

A nurse who purchased a bag of children's Halloween sweets from Poundland was horrified when he discovered a rusty three-inch blade hidden inside.



Peter McDougall bought the packet of Witches Broomsticks from a Poundland store in Aberdeen in preparation for children trick-or-treating on Halloween.



But the 28-year-old nurse, who works at Royal Cornhill Hospital in Aberdeen, couldn't believe his eyes when he saw the knife wrapped up with one of the marshmallows inside.



Mr McDougall, from Stonehaven, Aberdeenshire, said: 'I had bought the sweets as part of the collection I have for when the kids come round chapping on the door at Halloween.



'But I hadn't had any breakfast one day so I was hungry. I ate one of the marshmallows and I was about to have another one when I saw the blade.



'It's like a hacksaw blade, something similar to a stanley knife, that was inside the wrapping with the marshmallow.



'I was shocked and mortified when I saw it - who knows what could have happened if a child had opened it.'

The sweets, made up of twisted strips of marshmallow, are an in-house Poundland brand. Ironically, the bag of sugary snacks were sold with the tag-line 'Eat if you dare'.

Mr McDougall, who bought the packet from Poundland's Berryden branch in Aberdeen, said the knife could cause serious harm to children.



He said: 'It's longer than my finger. You can see all the rust in there. It looks like it's come off some machinery or something.

Halloween treat: The bag of Witches Broomsticks were purchased from a Poundland store in Aberdeen

Investigation: Poundland has since removed the product from its shelves following the discovery of the blade next to a wrapped marshmallow twister

'If a young kid had seen it they might not have known what it was and they might have started playing with it, which could have caused some serious damage.



'Because it's Halloween, they might have thought it was a free toy with the bag of sweets.



'Luckily it was me who found it and not a child, otherwise who knows what could have happened.

'I want parents to be aware that they need to double check what's in these bags of sweets when their children go trick-or-treating.



'When I told the lady in Poundland what I found she was absolutely mortified and I'm chuffed that they've have taken the sweets off their shelves.'



A spokeswoman for Poundland said: 'Poundland is committed to providing its customers with quality products.



'An investigation is currently taking place into its Witches Broomstick sweets following a complaint from a customer that they had found a machinery blade inside.

