OFF meat meant families were left without their turkey dinners on Christmas Day.

One Hatfield mum, who had splashed out on a Finest turkey from Tesco in Hatfield, said her loved-ones’ festivities were ruined.

The mum-of-two had cleaned and dressed the frozen turkey with butter and bacon ready for its slow roast overnight.

Just before midnight she was woken by her two grown-up children who had noticed a “really awful smell”.

The middle-aged woman said: “The turkey was rotten from the inside out.”

“It was a bit of a crap Christmas.

“We had to have some frozen chicken pieces from the freezer.”

Along with her two children and husband the woman felt extremely let down, as the turkey for many is an important part of the day.

She said: “I like to do it all properly, I make everything myself, so it was a real let down.

“I still haven’t had a turkey sandwich.”

She returned to the Oldings Corner store on Boxing Day and was even more shocked to find she was not alone.

She said: “I was first in the queue on Boxing Day, within 10 minutes there were five or six others in the line, some had even brought the meat with them.

“It wasn’t just turkeys, there were hams too. I felt sorry for the girl at customer services.”

A Tesco spokesman said: “From the tens of thousands of customers who shop at Tesco in Hatfield, fewer than five customers had issues with their meat.

“We are sorry of course for the customer not having the Christmas dinner she had hoped for.

“She was just very unlucky.”