Pizza poop shock

The nasty delivery, from the Pizza Hut takeway restaurant on Lodge Lane in Grays, has led to the sacking of a delivery driver.

The food was ordered by a resident from Grays, who phoned Trading Standards after opening two Pizza Hut boxes and finding faeces inside.

Pizza Hut launched an internal investigation into incident and say that the food, which was left unattended by the driver whose car had broken down, was tampered with by a member of the public.

A spokesperson for Pizza Hut said: “We were shocked to hear about this incident.

“After an internal investigation, it has emerged that a delivery was left unattended after it had left the restaurant and was subsequently tampered with by a member of the public.

“We do not tolerate any breaches of our strict policy on food delivery and have dismissed the delivery driver.

“We have apologised to those involved and are working with local authorities to assist them in identifying those responsible.”

Thurrock Council Spokesperson Andy Lever said: “A detailed investigation has been undertaken following two Pizza Hut boxes containing faeces being delivered to a customer in Grays on 23 November 2008.

“A visit was made to Pizza Hut, Grays, on the following day by an Environmental Health Officer to investigate the complaint and interview staff.

“It is thought that the cause of the incident was due to the delivery driver acting irresponsibly by permitting the delivery to be outside of his control following his car breaking down.

“It appears that four individuals not connected with the company ate the food contained in the boxes and replaced it with faeces.

“It is not known whether this is animal or human.

“It is clear that Pizza Hut did have proper food systems in place at the time of the incident and the driver involved had received suitable training.

“The driver was subsequently dismissed.

“Thurrock Council will not be taking any further action regarding this complaint.”