A family is left with a Chinese puzzle after finding a bladed tool inside a sports bag imported from the Far East.

Mum Linda Langridge is horrified because her seven-year-old daughter Jasmin could have been slashed by the sharp clippers as she dipped her hand into the brand new bag.

But she is also mystified because the cutting tool may have travelled inside the bag undetected thousands of miles from the manufacturers in China.

Miss Langridge, 40, of Kingsford Street, Mersham, said: “After we bought the bag and went home Jasmin opened it, put her hand inside and felt the clippers.

“Thankfully she only touched the blunt part otherwise she could have been badly injured.

“But it makes me wonder how it could have been brought over such a long distance without it ever being detected.”

The 11cm clippers, with 4cm blades, were in a pink Diadora schoolgirl’s sports bag bought from Sports Direct in Ashford High Street.

The tool, with what look like Chinese characters on it, appears to be a seamstress’ clippers used for snipping cotton.

Miss Langridge believes it could have been accidentally dropped into the bag at the Chinese factory the bag was made in.

She went back to Sports Direct at Ashford to tell the shop what has happened and filled in a complaint form, which is expected to be passed to distributors elsewhere in the UK.

We made contact with Sports Direct at Ashford to try to solve the puzzle and were referred to the company’s head office in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire.

Nobody there was available for comment.