A MAN was horrified when he bit into a screw in his curry, leaving him with agonising tooth ache.

Charles White, 28, Beaufort Road, ordered an Indian from the restaurant Abdul’s on Christchurch Road, and as he was enjoying his meal, he shockingly bit down on a screw approximately two centre metres long.

Charles said: “I could have swallowed it. I think it might have fallen out of the pan and they didn’t realise. They were saying it was me.

“I was shocked by the way I was dealt with. They were very defensive and said they didn’t think the screw was anything to do with them.

“They implied I was intentionally doing this to get a free meal.”

Charles said the screw was hidden inside one of the onion bhajis. He spoke to a staff member who was apologetic and said he would escalate the issue to his manager and would need Charles to send the food back.

“I put the screw and the remaining onion bhaji in a separate container and pointed this out to the delivery guy so he could relay the information,” he continued.

“About 10 minutes after this the manager called and was very angry. He said very quickly that he is sure that the screw did not come from his restaurant and that it was not his fault.

“I told him that the screw definitely was in the onion bhaji that I ate. He repeated that there was no way that this would be true and that I was insulting him and his restaurant.

“He kept shouting down the phone, so I asked about five times for a chance to speak. He didn’t give me a chance to speak, told me I should never order from there again and hung up the phone.”

Charles received £5 back from his £20 order, which covered the price of the chicken curry, but was left with a sour taste in his mouth from the treatment he received from the restaurant.

Anshur Ahmed, store manager, said: "We make the onion bhaji in a high quarantine area which is sterilised. I work to high standards so to find a screw is horrific, I feel he tried to get a free meal out of me.

"I apologised for the inconvenience and offered a refund or more food. The gentleman was not accepting it, he was very offensive at times. I have to be concerned, this is a health and safety issue."