FATHER-of-four Justin Oliver discovered a jagged wooden splinter, hidden in the gravy of his boil-in-the-bag meal, as he sat down to eat dinner with his family.

At first Mr Oliver thought it was piece of lemon grass, but when he fished the mysterious object out of his favourite Birdseye beef and dumpling stew he realised it was a three inch wooden splinter, streaked with blue paint.

"I couldn't believe it, I still can't," said Mr Oliver, of Coniston Road, Chippenham. "With all the modern technology we're supposed to have and all the hygiene laws this shouldn't be so.

"We have received a letter from the company, but no one has apologised about what's happened. In fact we have been given the impression this is not a one-off incident."

Unilever, which owns Birdseye, said it had only one similar complaint last year for every two million meals sold.

But Mr Oliver, who bought the meal from Cost Cutters, at the end of Queen's Crescent, said he could have choked on the splinter, particularly as he has a saliva gland problem, making it difficult for him to digest dry food or clear blocked food from his throat.

Mr Oliver's wife Tara, 31, telephoned the company's customer hotline to explain what happened.

The woman on the telephone instantly recognised the piece of wood from his wife's description as a splinter from a pallet. She said the raw ingredients for meals are stored on pallets, which are painted blue so if pieces break off they can be easily identified.

The woman asked Mr Oliver, 47, if he would send the splinter to the company for analysis, which he agreed to do. But after the telephone conversation he decided to send it to North Wiltshire District Council's environmental health department.

His wife received a letter from Unilever three days later, saying specialists had examined wood, which had not been sent to them, and identified it as from a pallet.

Enclosed in the letter was £10 worth of Birdseye food vouchers.

Unilever confirmed that the meal was produced on September 28 at its Grimsby factory, which is purpose-built for making frozen food meals.

A spokesman said: "We appreciate the concern caused by the discovery of a piece of wood in a food product and we have written to Mrs Oliver and offered some recompense.

"Samples of finished product are taken from the production line at regular intervals and checked for both physical and organoleptic compliance, no other incidents of this type were recorded on the day in question."

But Mr Oliver is unhappy with the company's response. He said: "Fancy sending me £10 worth of vouchers. Do they really think I'm going to buy any more Birdseye food?

"I want to know how this happened. I want them to say, 'Sorry Mr Oliver we are investigating what went wrong.' But it's not just me they need to reassure, it's the public."

North Wiltshire District Council said its environmental health officers had approached the company's factory in Grimsby and its counterparts in North East Lincolnshire and were assured there were no health and safety issues. A spokesman for the council said the company insisted it was a one-off and had apologised to Mr Oliver.