AN NHS worker and single mother-of-four has slammed the "abusive" internet trolls who berated her over a story in the Worcester News.

Jenna Smith was approached by a Worcester News reporter after she posted on Facebook that she and her children had been sold 'raw' battered sausages at her local chip shop, the Rose Avenue Fryer, in Tolladine.

Miss Smith said she wanted to warn other potential customers about her experience at the chippy – which was given a food hygiene rating of just one out of five in January - to prevent anyone else having a similar issue.

However, when the story was published on the Worcester News website and Facebook page, many people criticised Miss Smith, saying she was a poor mother for giving her children food from a takeaway, and also claimed she had only spoken to the newspaper in the hope of getting financial compensation.

Worcester News:

One troll wrote: "Typical Tolly dolly looking for a extra handout". Other people called her "a scrounger" and "a dog".

Worcester News:

In fact, Miss Smith is a healthcare assistant at Worcestershire Royal Hospital who feeds sick people on the wards as part of her job, and she only gives her children takeaways occasionally as a treat.

She said: “I am so angry about the comments on the article. I was simply trying to warn people so their children didn’t eat the food like my children had to. I don’t want anybody to be poorly because of raw food.

“There is just no need to be so abusive. I am sure that those commenting would be the first to complain if it had happened to their family.

“I am a hardworking single parent. I spend my days working at the hospital feeding people on the wards who are too poorly to do it themselves. So I let my children have fish and chips every once in a while – who doesn’t?”

Worcester News:

The Worcester News deleted the abusive comments posted on our website and on our Facebook page.

Harjinder Sandhu, general manager of the chippy, currently operating from a van under the name Rose Avenue Express, in Tolladine Road, admitted the sausages shouldn’t have been sold. He said: “The sausages are not the ones we usually use. We have thrown that box out now and refunded the woman. We are only human, sometimes mistakes are made. We apologise for any upset that may have been caused.”

Read more: Mum's anger over 'raw' sausage