Shock: Grandmother Shirley Benjamin found the piece of glass while making a milkshake for Ria-Lillian

A gran was shocked at finding broken glass in a milk bottle while making a treat for her four-year-old granddaughter.

Little Ria-Lillian Thomas avoided potentially serious throat injuries when her grandmother Shirley Benjamin discovered the shard of glass half-an-inch wide as she added milk to her strawberry milkshake after school.

Mrs Benjamin understood the bottle was owned by Dairy Crest but the milk delivery company said yesterday its bottle was used by another firm.

Mrs Benjamin, 57, of Greenway, Dagenham, said: “As I was pouring the milk I heard a clinging sound.

“It sounded like a coin but I saw this piece of glass.

“It is big enough to cause damage. I’m just glad I didn’t carry on pouring it in.

“It could have got into her throat. A piece of glass is dangerous even for an adult.

“I feel so very upset. I can’t bear to think what could have happened.”

Mrs Benjamin received a milk delivery on June 18 and she opened the bottle the following day to make a cup of tea and drink for her granddaughter.

She sent a letter to Dairy Crest customer services the same day but says the company wrote back on June 21 stating the milk had been bottled by a contractor and could not be of further assistance.

Mrs Benjamin says the letter also stated the bottle and glass would be collected but this had not happened yesterday (Tuesday) as the Post went to press.

A Dairy Crest spokesman said: “After investigating this matter we can confirm that Ms Benjamin is not a Dairy Crest customer.

“It seems that another dairy company has used one of our glass milk bottles to bottle their milk, which does happen from time to time.

“We will speak to Ms Benjamin to apologise for the confusion caused when she contacted us and as a responsible business will do what we can to investigate how his happened with Mrs Benjamin’s supplier.”