John Preston from Hanwood near Shrewsbury. On the table are letters from Tesco and Coca Cola and the five pound off voucher from Coca Cola.

A Shropshire man today vowed never to drink Coca-Cola again after he discover shards of broken glass in a bottle he bought from a supermarket.

John Preston, 53, of Hanwood, near Shrewsbury, said he nearly swallowed the pieces of broken glass. At first Mr Preston thought his wife Gail had put ice in a glass of Coke she poured for him on December 30.

He said: “I took the pieces of what I thought was ice out of my mouth and I couldn’t believe my eyes – they were pieces of glass.

“I felt sick and thought what would have happened to me if I had swallowed them?

“I’ve drank Coke all my life and I’ve still got two bottles in the fridge but it’s put me off ever drinking it again.

“I want an explanation from Coca-Cola because our nephews often come round and we give them Coke.

“It could have been devastating if a child had swallowed the glass.”

Mr Preston said while the soft drinks giant had already written to apologise and offer a £5 voucher, he was not satisfied with their explanation.

In its letter to Mr Preston, Coca-Cola said: “A visual inspection of the sample has identified the foreign matter as pieces of glass, the biggest piece measuring 4cm by 1.5cm long.

“Our factory recorded no issues or line stoppages on the day of production and this is the only complaint of this nature received for the production day in question.

“We are at a loss to explain this occurrence.”

Mr Preston bought the bottle of Coke from Tesco in Battlefield, Shrewsbury, on December 30. He said he took it back to the shop the next day where staff apologised, gave him a refund and put him in touch with the drink manufacturer as it was not a Tesco brand product.

A spokeswoman for Tesco said the company was happy to provide a refund.

A Coca-Cola Enterprises spokeswoman said: “The safety and quality of all Coca-Cola Enterprises products is our first priority.

“This investigation has subsequently determined that the several pieces of glass in the bottle were not consistent with anything found in the manufacturing process on the production line. We are sorry that one of our consumers has had such an experience. We have apologised and, to date, have received no further communication.”

By Andrew Morris