A fuming mum says she was moments from feeding her daughter out-of-date baby formula - before seeing it had expired 16 months ago.

Candice purchased the item during her weekly food shop yesterday afternoon at the M&S in Bluewater, near Dartford.

M&S bosses say they are taking the matter “very seriously” and have apologised to her.

Candice had picked up a four-pack of Aptamil stage 1 “ready to feed” baby formula at the store along with three separate bottles before heading home.

But when she went to pour the milk into a bottle for six-month-old Dolly that evening, she noticed the expiry date said December 29, 2022.

Candice, who has asked us not to use her surname, said: “I’m absolutely fuming. I was about to pour it into the bottle before checking.

“It didn’t smell, it wasn’t discoloured but I glanced down the side and just decided to check. Call it mother’s intuition I guess.”

Candice checked all the other bottles and the rest had expiry dates near the end of 2024.

The expired formula was one of the bottles bought separately - despite saying on the side it is not for individual sale.

The same bottle did not scan at the checkout which meant a staff member scanned one of the other bottles in its stead.

Candice believed it was a misplaced bottle from a multi-pack as it also had a different design.

“If someone else had bought that milk I dread to think what it could do if they feed it to their baby,” she said.

“What are they doing with stuff two years out of date on their shelves anyway?”

Candice phoned the store to explain the issue. After checking, a member of staff offered an apology and a refund for the £1.20 bottle.

“I wasn’t phoning for the refund. I wanted to make sure no one else had bought off-milk,” she said.

“I wanted them to check their shelves but they said someone would get back in touch soon. I still haven’t spoken to anyone since.”

Candice is going back today to talk to store bosses.

An M&S spokesperson told KentOnline: “We take this matter very seriously and we have spoken to our store colleagues to make sure this does not happen again.

“We are also contacting the customer directly to apologise.”