DARK room technician Joanne Naylor (pictured) got more than she bargained when she picked up a piece of fresh broccoli from a supermarket.

She was about to chop up the vegetable and add it to a pan of home-made vegetable soup when a large green caterpillar reared its ugly head.

The two-inch-long bug was nestling among the florets of the plastic-wrapped pre-washed broccoli she bought from Morrisons, in High Street, Blackburn.

Joanne, 25, said: "I looked at it closely because it looked a bit dirty. It had little green blobs on the florets and when I looked closer they looked like eggs."

She was about to throw it away when she noticed the "eggs" had company -- a hairy green caterpillar with yellow spots.

"It was a bit of shock," said Joanne, who lives in Worsthorne, Burnley. "It's certainly put me off broccoli a bit."

Steve Leigh, store manager, said: "All our produce is checked by quality control before it goes out. The broccoli is washed before it is wrapped but this must have slipped through the net.

"If the lady wants to come in we will take it from her, refund her money and replace the item. I can assure her the matter won't just be dismissed."