A mum has issued a warning to other parents after finding a three-inch blade embedded in a new toy.

Keira Dunnet bought a bag of jumbo foam building blocks from B&M Stores at Neats Court, Queenborough, for her children Grace and nine-month-old Noah.

But when her seven-year-old daughter opened the toy, she found the razor-sharp item.

Miss Dunnet, who lives with partner Doug in Newbridge Avenue, Milton Regis, said: “Grace was the one who found it and said to me, ‘what’s this?’

“If it had been me that had opened it I would have just poured them into a ball pool that both of them play in.

“My son is in that stage where he puts everything in his mouth – I don’t want to think about what would have happened if he had found it first.”

Receptionist Miss Dunnet, who is currently on maternity leave, immediately used email and social media to contact the customers services department of the national retailer to alert it to them to the danger.

On Monday, two days after reporting the find, she received an email from the company’s head office saying B&M had no way of knowing there was a knife in the product.

It further said: “The manufacturing process almost entirely ensures that this cannot happen as events such as this is exceptionally rare across the whole of retailing.

“But even with all the expertise, checks, controls and will in the world it has happened.

“We have asked our suppliers to tighten up on their quality control procedures.”

Despite acknowledging there was a blade in the toy, the company added it accepted no liability, but offered her a £30 voucher as “goodwill gesture”.

Miss Dunnet called the response inadequate, saying she does not want any money and that she is more concerned about other products being affected.

She added: “It’s a knife in a kid’s toy – what if there are more in other bags of the building blocks?

“I think parents should be alerted to that possibility.

“I’m just hoping it was used in the packaging process and it’s a one-off mistake.

“That said, it was embedded in the foam, so I hope it wasn’t a deliberate act by someone who might do it again.”

On B&M’s website, it is still selling the £6.99 product, which it advertises as containing “no sharp corners and no hard edges”.

B&M later told KentOnline they suspect the blade "originates from the supplier", and said they have checked their stock and are carrying out an investigation.

A spokesman said: “We’re shocked to hear of Ms Dunnet complaint, we take product safety very seriously.

“We believe this originates from the supplier and have started an investigation.

"We’ve arranged for the product to be returned to the Support Centre for a full independent investigation in conjunction with the supplier - all existing stock has been checked and no other foreign objects were discovered."