MUM Cate Harrison has been left horrified after her three-year-old son put a condom he found in the play area at the Longs Arms pub, Yarnbrook, in his mouth.

The 34-year-old, who was visiting friends and family in Westbury, rushed son Charlie to the White Horse Health Centre to be told there was a chance he could have caught Hepatitis B from the discarded condom at the Hungry Horse pub.

As a precaution the youngster will be given three injections over the coming months to prevent infection.

But Mrs Harrison from Belfast, Northern Ireland, who was offered her money back and vouchers by the pub, has been left angered and believes the incident should never have happened.

She said: “He was by the toddler slide and me and my friend were sat a few feet away and could still see him and then a lady came across to us and said ‘your son has just picked up a condom’.

“I went over and there was this condom next to him and I was in shock, I couldn’t believe that a business run for families would let this happen.

“The response I got from the staff was that they cleaned their park everyday but this obviously wasn’t the case.

“There is a duty of care to make sure it is clean and tidy and I’m very angry and don’t think it should be happening in this day and age.”

The microbiology department and sexual health experts assured Mrs Harrison there was no chance of catching HIV or AIDS but there may be a slim chance of other infections.

“They said there was a very low risk he might get Hepatitis B and that it was up to the parent whether to get him vaccinated, but what parent wouldn’t get him vaccinated?” added Mrs Harrison.

“He’s quite upset with himself I think because of my reaction as obviously I was concerned and angry but he knows why he’s getting the injections.”

Trudi Rudman, who lives in Westbury and has been a friend of Mrs Harrison for 14 years, was at the pub at Yarnbrook roundabout when the incident happened on April 16 around 12.30pm.

She said: “We were obviously just horrified and Cate stormed straight into the bathroom and washed Charlie’s hands.

“I picked the condom up because I work in the NHS and thought I can probably take it somewhere and get it tested or something.

“I told the staff and the young girl seemed quite shocked that we had just found this condom on the floor and was really quite horrified.

“I just can’t understand why a place like that didn’t check because you would have thought that would have been part of their duty of care.”

A spokesperson for the pub said: “As a family friendly pub we are shocked by this unusual incident and apologise to the family for the distress it must have caused.

“Our large garden area is thoroughly tidied and checked regularly throughout the day and although it is unlikely we will be able to establish how this came to be there, we will be reviewing the way our garden is maintained in future.”