Adventure Land denies ant problem

Kayleigh Battersby also claims ants were crawling near cups of juice and running on the cake the mother of the birthday boy Zacharry Manning had brought with her.

But the owners of Childsplay at Adventure Land, in Clarendon Way, said only a couple of the insects were found near a door and a bin, and were dealt with straight away.

A duty manager refunded £50 of the £120 bill when Zacharry’s father went in to make a complaint about the party the day after.

Ms Battersby, of Glebe Road, Colchester, took her three-year-old son Harvey Tomes to the party. But when he ate a chicken nugget, she claimed he began to choke.

His 21-year-old mum said: “He was having trouble, and we found a piece of gristle or something in it.”

They showed the lump Harvey coughed up to staff, who took it away to pass on to the company which supplies the chicken nuggets.

But Ms Battersby added: “When I rang up for an apology later, they were not very helpful.”

Zacharry’s mum Sara Manning said she had been left in tears because of what happened at her son’s fourth birthday party.

She said: “It was quite a big lump, and Kayleigh and Harvey were very distressed. I just thought it was all disgusting, particularly the ants, because they were everywhere.”

Karen Se-ward, owner of the business, acknowledged something had been found in the nugget.

She said: “It was no bigger than a pea, and is something that can happen, although in ten years of buying from this provider, this is the first time it has ever been brought to our attention.

“We have passed it on to them, and hope they will take action to get in touch with the woman by way of an apology.

“As for the ants, we have no recollection they were anywhere near the food.

“There were two near the bin and under the door, and we put powder down straight away.

“Everything is wiped down on a regular basis.

“We have 16 parties here a day at the weekends. We did not receive any other complaints that day.”