A MUM said her family's Christmas dinner was ruined after they had to throw away a "rancid and slimy" Asda turkey.

       Alexandra Murphy, who lives in Angmering, Sussex, was horrified to discover the ￡21.81 bird smelled "rotten" when she began preparing dinner on December 25.

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       A mum-of-three unwrapped an Asda turkey for Christmas dinner - only to discover it was 'rotten' Credit: BPM 2

       Alexandra Murphy, who lives in Sussex, said she quickly binned the bird and cleaned her oven and fridge Credit: BPM

       And despite binning it immediately, she fears it has contaminated her surfaces - and may yet cause her three sons to fall ill.

       The 56-year-old told SussexLive the turkey, bought from the supermarket in nearby Ferring, was inside its sell-by date and had been kept in the fridge since December 21.

       "We didn't have turkey on Christmas Day. The only thing that had turkey that day was the bin," she said.

       "The turkey was slimy inside the packet.

       "The smell was rotten too, you could smell it all the way upstairs in the bedrooms."

       Alexandra immediately tried to call Asda's support line, but was unable to get through.

       'IT WAS ROTTEN'

       She said: "I've worked in pubs before and handled tons and tons of meat, and I have never ever seen anything like this before.

       "I was told to keep it and take it back, but there was no way I was keeping that in my house.

       "It went from the tray to the garden to the bin."

       She said she's cleaned her oven and tray, as well as the inside of the fridge, adding: "You get paranoid of cross contamination."

       But in spite of the upset, Alexandra doesn't blame Asda.

       "I shop from Asda all the time, it's my local store," she said.

       CHRISTMAS UPSET

       "If they didn't open the package then they wouldn't have known. It must be a problem with the farm.

       "If someone else has eaten this, or even touched it, this could make someone seriously ill. There's a big salmonella risk.

       "There must be more people than just me that have had this problem."

       Asda has been approached for comment.

       Elsewhere, one couple abandoned their still-pink turkey after hours of cooking - only to discover they'd actually ordered a gammon joint.

       Customer Zoe accused NL Woodcock Butchers in Oldham of spoiling the big day in a Facebook post, writing: "It was very, very pink."

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       She said she and her partner eventually "gave up and had Christmas dinner two hours late with no meat".

       After finally realising the 'turkey' was actually gammon, she accused the butcher of mixing up her order - only to be told she hadn't ordered a bird at all.

       Meanwhile, Adie Hall of Hull was left furious after discovering a long black hair on his Tesco turkey, while one unlucky diner unwrapped a green bird on the big day.

       You've been using your Christmas leftovers all wrong