A mother and father were appalled to discover worms on the fresh fish they were preparing for their children's dinner.

The couple had bought the pieces of cod earlier that day from Bradford-based supermarket giant Morrisons.

Balbinder Samplay, 34, said he picked up one of the creatures not realising it was a worm.

He said: "I thought it was just a little piece of fish, then it curled up in my fingers and I dropped it.

"This has put me off fish for the rest of my life."

A Morrisons spokesman apologised to the family but said worms in cod were not unusual.

He said: "Morrisons take the quality and safety of all the products that we sell very seriously indeed and we offer our sincere apologies that on this occasion a product purchased from us has failed to please.

"Cod worms are well-known and understood in the fish industry and cod is affected more than any other fish due to its specific feeding habits."

Jasbir Samplay, 33, of Ederoyd Avenue, in Pudsey, bought the three pieces of cod from the fresh fish counter at Morrisons in Bramley on Wednesday evening. She said: "When it was weighed and wrapped up in front of me it looked fine. But when I came to prepare the fish there were little worms crawling out of it.

"The change in temperature must have set them off. I was absolutely disgusted, and when I phoned up to complain the person I spoke to was very unhelpful."

Mrs Samplay said the store manager had not apologised to her for the incident.

She said: "I was offered a £5 gift voucher and a refund for the fish, but he neither

apologised to me nor my husband.

"I want to know why and how the store was able to serve food in this state."

Mrs Samplay had planned to serve the fish to her family that evening, and she said: "I have always got my fresh fish from there, but I will not be buying fresh fish from there again."

The Morrison's spokesman said: "We have requested that the customer returns the fish to her local store in order to carry out an investigation."

A spokesman for Leeds City Council environmental health unit said: "These parasitic roundworms are frequently found in the flesh of fish, although only a small proportion of fish sold to the public is affected this way.

"The ones most commonly found in cod are called cod worms.

"The presence of these worms does not imply carelessness or low standards on the part of the supplier.

"The risk to human health from these worms is minimal, because fish is cooked before consumption."