Primark apologises after NHS employee ‘finds enormous beetle inside cardigan’

An NHS worker was left “traumatised” after she discovered a gigantic beetle lurking inside her Primark cardigan. Haleema Iqbal, 35, was “disgusted” when she encountered the roughly 2-inch long (5cm) black critter in her newly purchased £17 grey number.

The healthcare assistant had popped into one of the high street giant’s recently opened stores in Bradford, West Yorks easrlier this month and snagged the cosy piece.

But the horror unfolded back at her house when she slipped her arms through the sleeves and instead of peeling off a label, she found the dead insect clinging to her arm.

READ MORE: Primark shares little known trick to tell if hot water bottles are out of date

READ MORE: Primark encourages customers to spread festive cheer with Bring the Joy campaign

Click for more of the latest news from across the world from the Daily Star.

Primark offerd Haleema a £50 voucher following her complaint about the unexpected guest, insisting it maintains “high standards and checks” for their products. However, Haleema has sworn never to set foot in any of their shops ever again after the creepy encounter.

Haleema said: “I don’t want to shop there after what’s happened.”

She added, “It’s not about whatever voucher they’re going to give me – it’s more how can something like that be in there?”

Describing the moment of shock, she said, “I didn’t think there was going to be an insect, and then when I’ve obviously pulled on it thinking it’s a tag, there was a beetle.”

The ordeal left her feeling queasy as she explained, “I had to flush it down the toilet. I was so disgusted, literally, I was sweating.”

The scare also sent her into a panic, as she admitted, “I was panicky. I didn’t know if it was anywhere else. I thought, ‘What if it’s stuck somewhere else’.”

She added: “You think to yourself, ‘I need to get into the shower. I felt dirty. I thought something else might be on me as well. It was definitely a traumatising experience.”

Haleema said she had picked up the cardigan while shopping with her sister at a Primark store near her home on The Broadway, in Bradford.

And following the shocking discovery, she had written to the retailer to share her disgust at what had happened.

But she initially felt “fobbed off” when she was first offered just a £5 voucher and wrote to the firm asking why they had not made further inquiries.

In her email, Haleema wrote: “I’d like to know what happened with this investigation and what you have done about it so this does not happen to anyone again.

“I don’t need a poxy £5 voucher. A beetle was stuck on my arm when I tried this cardigan on and you think a £5 voucher is good customer relations.”

Primark then sent a message back to her saying the matter was being “thoroughly investigated”.

And the firm later offered her a £50 voucher, which she was told she would have to accept within 24 hours.

But Haleema decided not to redeem the offer and said she had no intention of shopping at Primark in the future.

A Primark spokesperson said: “We’re really sorry to hear about the customer’s experience and that she was not happy with how her case was handled.

“We have been in touch with the customer directly and hope that she is satisfied with how this has been resolved.

“There is no way to establish how and when this could have happened, but we remain confident with the high standards and checks we have place with our suppliers.”

For the latest breaking news and stories from across the globe from the Daily Star, sign up for our newsletters.