A teenager has spoken of her disgust after taking a bite of an Aldi plum - and finding a maggot wriggling around inside.

Supermarket bosses have apologised to Rose Reece, from Hythe, who made the grim discovery yesterday.

The 16-year-old had already taken a bite out of the fruit when she noticed something moving in the flesh.

Miss Reece said: "My mum had bought the plums from Aldi earlier today, and when I bit into it it tasted fine.

"It wasn't until I tried to get the stone out that I noticed something was wrong."

To her horror, a bright red maggot wriggled out.

The plum maggot was surrounded by damaged fruit flesh, as well as dark material that is likely to be "frass" – the creature's excrement.

Commonly named the "pink plum maggot", it is actually a caterpillar larvae of the plum moth.

"It was horrifying, and incredibly gross considering everything that was in there along with the maggot," Miss Reece said.

"It has put me off completely. I'm still grossed out just thinking about it."

The plum was purchased from the Aldi store in Dymchurch Road, Hythe, and bosses have offered Miss Reece a full refund.

A spokesperson said: “Whilst very rare, this can occasionally occur with products that are grown in natural conditions.

"We apologise to Ms Reece and would encourage her to return to her nearest store for a full refund.”

Plum moths traditionally have a wingspan of 1.5cm when fully grown, and are usually coloured black and brown.

Adult moths usually start to emerge from late May through to mid-July, but during hot summers caterpillers can pupate early and produce a second generation of moths in late summer.