Police called as Peterborough mum opens parcel to find ‘fizzing chemical’ which burned her fingers

Patrice Bennett, who lives in Medworth, Orton Goldhay, had ordered a pair of Peppa Pig trainers for three-year-old daughter, Savannah, from retailer George.

They were delivered on Tuesday evening (December 8) but it was not until Wednesday morning (December 9) when she opened the package and immediately noticed that something was wrong.

She said: “As soon as I opened it, there was a strong chemical smell and then my fingers started to burn and turn white, similar to the effect you get when you touch strong peroxide.

“I quickly washed my hands and carefully tried to touch it again to try and see what it was, it was a fluid that was very oily and bubbly.

“I phoned the Police and I couldn’t believe the response, within a couple of minutes so many Police cars and ambulances turned up.

“They asked neighbours to stay inside and quickly got me out of the house.

“I’m able to laugh about it now but I was absolutely terrified.

“I’ve only just moved into the area and I don’t think many of my neighbours knew me, well they certainly do now.

“It was so stressful, especially as someone who has previously had panic attacks, and I had to ring my therapist to try and calm down. I had ordered quite a few things online and they arrived at a similar time and I haven’t been able to bring myself to open the rest of them. I got my mum to come round and do that for me.”

Police spent several hours at the scene before determining the package posed no serious danger.

A spokesperson for Cambridgeshire Police said: “We were called at 9.42am yesterday morning by a member of the public in Medworth, Orton Goldhay, with concern around a parcel she had received.

“It was reported there was concern around a possible chemical on the contents of the parcel which had caused a reaction on the informant’s skin.

“Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) officers were deployed to the scene, along with the fire service.

“It was established there was no dangerous substance present.”

After the Police had left and taken the package away with them, Patrice contacted Asda’s customer service team to complain and was dismayed to only be offered a £5 gift card on top of the refund as compensation for what had happened.

She added: “I told them I wasn’t interested in their offer and I demanded to know how it could happen that a chemical could have ended up inside of my package when they assured me that they don’t use such strong chemicals to clean each parcel before sending them out and that there was nothing they could do to help.

“I have also sent an email to Asda’s Chief Executive and I hope to get a response.

“I really want this matter dealt with as if a child had received this package then it could have been a lot worse for them than me.”

Patrice has received an email saying her complaint is being investigated.

A spokesperson for Asda, who own the George brand, said: “We have launched a full investigation into this incident and we are pleased that the emergency services were quickly able to identify that this substance was not dangerous. We would like to reassure Miss Bennett and all of our customers that this was an isolated incident and we apologise again to Miss Bennett for the problem with her delivery and we will keep her updated throughout our investigation into her complaint.