A pregnant mum from Dover was put off her Saturday night takeaway after she claims she found a cockroach in her vegetarian chow mein.

Emma McGarry, who is eight months pregnant and lives in Tower Hamlets, says she found the creepy-crawly in her meal from the Lotus House Chinese takeaway in London Road.

Miss McGarry, 22, and her partner Jack Stevenson uploaded the snap to Facebook - with the message "feeling ill" - and has reported it to environmental health teams.

But Lotus House manager Ka Man has defended the business, saying: “We have a clean kitchen.”

He said no complaint had been made to the take-away, before it was contacted by KentOnline.

Mr Man added: "I would prefer if the customer came to me and made the case known to me.

"I have been serving here for more than 10 years and we have very happy customers."

After finding the insect in his food on Saturday night, Mr Stevenson said: "I've emailed the environmental health office through the government website and that's the only procedure I'd like to take."

A district council spokesman said: “We take all reports of food contamination seriously and investigate them accordingly. This includes visiting premises of concern to check on food hygiene standards and practices.

“We would urge anyone with concerns regarding food premises to contact the council directly on 01304 872216 or by email at envhealth@dover.gov.uk.”

Have you ever found something unusual in your takeaway food? Leave a comment below or email news@thekmgroup.co.uk.