PECKISH Peter McGlinn tucked into a Christmas pudding -- and ended up biting on a two-inch nail.

Instead of finding a coin buried within his rich fruit treat the father-of-three was horrified to find the nail.

Peter, a driver with Blackburn Transport, said: "I thought it might have been a lucky charm or something when I noticed this hard lump. But when I took it out of my mouth it was a nail. I couldn't believe it, I was shocked."

Peter's wife Susan bought the £1.88 pudding from Tesco in Blackburn and intended it for use on Christmas Day , but Peter's love of the pudding not only got him in trouble with his wife but almost cost him his two front teeth.

And Peter, of Rothesay Road, Blackburn, said it was lucky one of his three young children Liam, 13, Abbey , six, or four-year-old Holly did not stumble on the unsavoury surprise.

Peter, 46, said: "The nail could have easily pierced the roof of my mouth and done some damage. Susan bought it for Christmas but I just had to eat it, I suppose it serves me right."

Susan has complained to the store who have promised to look into the incident and have offered to replace the pud.

He said: "It certainly hasn't put me off Christmas pudding and I'll be having it on Christmas Day but it won't be from Tesco."

Tesco spokesman Russell Craig said: "The pudding needs to be sent to head office where our investigators can trace its history, right from being raw ingredients to being placed on the shelf at Blackburn.

"If there is a problem then we will look to see if we need to change our procedures. It's highly unlikely that there is a contamination with all the Christmas puddings, usually a foreign body is a one-off accident. A full investigation will find the possible cause."

Mr Craig added that the company would look to see if the McGlinns were entitled to any compensation.