A SOUTHAMPTON woman was shocked to find an inch-long, maggot-like creature in her mother’s hospital food.

Madeleine Knight was visiting her mum Veronica Muller at Southampton General Hospital when the dinner was served.

But to Mrs Knight’s disgust, she saw the worm-like insect inside a potato on her mother’s spoon - which the 84-year-old patient was about to put into her mouth.

Mrs Knight, 65, from Holbury, said she was taking the potato out of the dinner because it was discoloured when she saw the maggot.

She said: “The potato was black and should never have been served in the first place.

“The staff have plenty of opportunities to spot things like that before the food goes onto the ward. I just think it’s disgusting. I don’t think it’s right that people in hospital should be treated like that.

“When the meal arrived there were no vegetables on the plate so I asked the man serving it and he didn’t know what I meant by vegetables. I just think people should know about it.”

Managing to take the maggot away from her mother before Mrs Muller ate it, Mrs Knight alerted catering staff on G7 ward and they took the food away.

The company has since issued an apology letter to Mrs Knight.

Mrs Muller from Blackfield was in hospital following a fall.

A hospital spokesperson said: “The trust delivers 4,200 patient meals a day across the site and our catering provider received a five-star rating during a recent environmental health inspection.

“Any issues with meals which are raised with our staff are dealt with immediately by our catering provider and, where necessary, followed up with an investigation.”