An M&S shopper who was just trying to be “environmentally friendly” by using a fill your own grain dispenser has been “put off” after discovering his rice was crawling with insects.

Brad Burnett had popped to Bluewater for some shopping when he decided to stop off at the shopping centres’ Marks and Spencers’ food hall to grab ingredients for his dinner.

However, after buying Italian risotto rice and bringing it back to his home in Windmill Street, Gravesend, Brad’s 27-year-old partner discovered the grains were contaminated by weevils – a harmless pest that attacks crops such as rice.

The 30-year-old said: “I like being environmentally friendly and when I saw that I could get the rice in one of Marks and Spencers’ fill your own bins I decided to give it a go.

“It wasn’t until I got home that I noticed the weevils in the bag, they were running around.”

Brad, who bought the rice on Friday, January 5, rang M&S and was told to return to the store where he was given a refund of 98p and a £10 voucher for the shop.

He added: “I wasn’t given an explanation as to why this had happened and what was being done about it.

“From M&S you’d expect better, especially as I showed the staff the bin where I’d got them from and it was full of Weevils.

“The experience has put me off using the fill your own bins.”

An M&S spokesman said: “We take the quality of our food extremely seriously and set the highest standards for our products so immediately removed this from sale so we can investigate with our supplier.”

This wasn’t the only time weevils were found in risotto rice last week.

On Wednesday, January 3, footage showed the tiny bugs, that had been lurking inside a Sainsbury’s pack of risotto rice, crawling all over a mum-of-five’s dinner.

Nichola Jarvis, from Margate, was using the ingredients in a pea and bacon dish she was cooking and was left feeling sick after spotting the small black insects.

A Sainsbury’s spokesperson said: “We are in contact with Nichola to apologise for this rare experience.

“We have processes in place to prevent this from happening and we are investigating this case with our supplier.”