Surfleet couple find 'human tooth' in their fish fillet

A man had a nasty shock when he sat down to eat his dinner - only to find what he believes was a human tooth in his fish fillet.

Frank Banks (94), who lives at Surfleet Reservoir, had just started on his Morrisons' cod fillet in bread crumbs, when he began coughing.

"I was having the fish with some new potatoes and peas and had just cut a piece off the end of it and was enjoying it," he said.

"I cut another piece off and started eating it and then thought 'God Almighty - what is that?'

"It was hard and completely black. I took it and washed it in bleach and scrubbed it to see what it was. I couldn't believe it was a tooth.

"I knew it wasn't one of my teeth because mine are false."

Frank was eating his dinner with his wife Christine (69) and their friend Robert Holmes (67) last Wednesday evening when they made the gruesome discovery.

He added: "I washed my mouth out with disinfectant afterwards. I did not want to take any chances. You just don't know where it has come from.

"You don't know whether it was from when the fish was packed or was in the bread crumbs."

There is even a chance, they wonder, if it could have been picked up in the sea.

Christine, who shops regularly at Morrisons in Pinchbeck, where she bought the frozen fish, packaged up the tooth and took it straight back to the store with her friend Robert.

She said: "I'd bought the fish on Tuesday, the day before, and put it in the freezer.

"We were going to have toad in the hole but decided to cook the fish instead.

"Frank started choking. I patted him on the back and he spat it out onto the table."

All three were horrified at the discovery and want answers over how the tooth came to be in the fish.

"It could have been worse if it had got stuck in my throat," Frank said.

It was the second lucky escape for Frank after a house fire last April.

The former home he lived in, also at The Reservoir, burnt to the ground. Christine was away at the time visiting family and Frank managed to escape unscathed.

Morrisons has sent the tooth and packaging away for testing and the couple have been given a £10 voucher and refunded the £4.40 cost of the fish while the investigation gets under way.

They have also been phoned by Morrisons' head office which said the issue is being looked into 'as a matter of urgency.'

"We just want some answers over where the tooth came from. I don't fancy eating fish for a while," Christine added.

A spokesperson for Morrisons told the Lincolnshire Free Press: "We are waiting to receive the item the customer found.

"Until we test it we can't say what it is or where it has come from."