A woman has launched a lawsuit against retailer Zara after she said she found the corpse of a rodent sewn into the hem of her dress.

Cailey Fiesel, 24, who lives in Manhattan, bought two dresses from a Zara store in Greenwich, Connecticut back in July.

A few weeks later she wore the $40 black dress to work for the first time when she says she noticed a “disturbingly pungent odour” coming from it.

“Despite getting up from her desk and walking around, she was unable to escape the odor,” the Manhattan Supreme Court lawsuit charges.

“I felt something brushing up against my leg and thought it was a string from the seam of the dress,” she told the New York Post.

“I felt something brushing up against my leg," Ms Fisel reports

“I then felt the hem of the dress and it felt like there was some sort of sensor,” the talent agent said. “I turned up the seam of the dress and saw it was not a sensor and that it was a mouse,“ she said.

“I froze - I was paralysed with fear,” Ms Fiesel told the newspaper. “I was in complete shock. My eyes saw that it was a mouse but my brain told myself it can’t be,” she said.

In her legal documents, the 24-year-old is says that she developed a large rash that was diagnosed as a “rodent-born disease” and has suffered emotional dress.

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As a result, Ms Fiesel is suing Zara for unspecified damages.

A spokesman for Zara USA said the company ”is aware of the suit and we are investigating the matter further“, the Post reported.