PICTURES: Customer claims maggot eggs were on sealed roll bought from Greggs in Diss

A Greggs spokesperson has reassured customers their products at the Diss store are safe after apparent maggot eggs were found on a sealed roll.

The customer, who wishes to remain anonymous, said he had been a regular visitor of the chain for the best part of 30 years.

He bought the sealed ham and cheese baguette – labelled ‘freshly prepared here today’ – last Tuesday morning. But later that day as he went to eat his lunch, he noticed what appeared to be maggot eggs inside the packaging.

He returned to store the next morning – with staff taking photos and requesting somebody to contact him – and claims it took days for the chain to come back to him.

He said he did not want financial reward, but instead charity donations to the East Anglian Air Ambulance, EACH’s Quidenham hospice, and Great Ormond Street Hospital in the way of an apology.

A spokesperson for Greggs said they carried out “immediate and thorough checks” following the complaint, which they said confirmed the food, procedures and shop were clean and safe.

“I just couldn’t believe it,” the customer told the Diss Express. “At first I thought someone was playing a trick on me.

“When we looked we could see the maggot eggs on the ham. Had that been on the other side of the roll where the paper is I wouldn’t have seen it.

“We normally go in Greggs pretty much every morning. I think it is something that really needs to be brought to people’s attention.”

He added Greggs, who apologised to the man at the end of last week, should have contacted him sooner, and felt they had “let themselves down.”

“They called me on Friday afternoon but that was a few days after the event and had they got back earlier, I might not have gone to the newspaper.

“In fairness, it is important for people who use Greggs to know what is going on there.”

A Greggs spokesperson said: “Nothing is more important to us than hygiene and food safety and we carried out immediate and thorough checks which all confirm that our products, procedures and shop environment were clean and safe.

“We have been in contact with the customer and will continue to liaise with him to find out more about this complaint.

“Meanwhile, all our customers can be reassured that our products are safe.”

In January, a resident submitted footage of what appeared to be a rodent–like creature running across the floor at the Mere Street premises.

It was closed while an investigation into a possible ‘rodent issue’ was looked into by South Norfolk Council, and has since had a complete refit.

“I was glad there was a revamp,” the man continued. “What that said to me is that they had acknowledged the problem – by having a revamp they had eradicated the problem, and therefore there should be no more problems.

“But this is probably just a sheer negligence thing. Where they are preparing the rolls, if the bag is left open, a fly might have gone in, laid its eggs, been shoed away, taped up and no one has seen it.”