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A toddler had a lucky escape when a knife fell out of a Peppa Pig toy she was opening as a present on Christmas Day.

Maggie, two, almost put the rusty retractable knife in her mouth after she unwrapped the campervan toy. The tot’s dad Martin, 36, managed to grab the tool off his daughter but he admits the outcome “could have been horrific”.

Martin and fiancée Kelly Francis, 31, spent Christmas Day trying to contact the vendor and they have since been promised a full investigation.

Speaking from his home in Brackley, Northamptonshire, dad-of-two Martin said: “It could have been horrific.

“As both our children are autistic, we have to be particularly vigilant when opening boxes that contain plastic ties. Parents with more developed children might have just let them get on with opening their own presents.”

The blade fell from the packet as soon as Maggie had opened it but she thought it was part of the toy, North Wales Live reports. 

Martin, a poultry welfare officer, said: “We were keeping a close eye on the children.

“But when something fell out from a void in the cardboard packaging, initially I thought it was just a plastic component.

“As Maggie reached for it, I saw it was a blue knife. The blade was rusty and the retractable blade didn’t have a safety catch, so it could just slide in and out.

“I managed to grab it just before Maggie did. It was just as well I did, as it’s pretty likely Maggie would have put it in her mouth.

“Kelly was absolutely furious. Had Maggie put it in her mouth it’s very likely we would have had the Army rushing her to hospital in an ambulance.”

The father, originally from Caernarfon, north Wales, re-checked receipts and found he had ordered the gift from Studio – an online retailer owned by the Studio Retail Group.

Unable to speak to anyone on Christmas Day, they tried again on Boxing Day and were put through to the complaints department. “They were pretty shocked,” said Martin.

“They passed on the complaint to the investigations team, saying they need to know how this happened.”

Kelly has shared photos on Facebook to warn other parents.

“So lucky and thankful Martin opened it with her and found it first,” Kelly posted.

The wooden Peppa Pig campervan was manufactured in China and Martin suspects the blue Martor knife was accidently lost when the item was being packaged.

He continued: “There was a void in the bottom of the box where the plastic bindings were tied. Someone probably put the knife down for a second and forgot about it when trimming the ties. When looking at the product in its finished packaging, the knife wasn’t visible at all.”

“We’re careful anyway but now we’re being even more meticulous to make sure there are no more unwanted surprises. We still haven’t got through all the presents yet.

“We have played through the various horrible what-if-we-hadn’t-seen-it-when-we-did” scenarios? What if our other child had picked it up? What if the dirty work blade had cut someone, particularly with so many emergency services currently on strike? But the prevailing feeling is a sense of relief that nobody got hurt.”

Digital retailer Studio was approached for a comment by Express.co.uk and North Wales Live.

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