A CHILD has been wounded by a sharp tool which was poking out from inside a sofa cushion.

Five-year-old Leo Gomez was playing with his brother Lucas, aged three, when he jumped onto a pile of cushions in their Crawley home.

After crying out that “the cushion had hurt me”, Leo’s mother Tania Ferreira rushed over to investigate and found a pointy object sticking out from inside a cushion.

The 31-year-old said the tool inside the sofa cushion, one of six own-brand cushions purchased from B&M in County Oak Retail Park, was “huge”.

“It was bigger than a screwdriver and obviously we were shocked,” she said.

"We just thought it was the zipper, especially because it was scratch on his leg. Everyone shops at B&M and now it's kind of put me off, I was a frequent customer before.”

The Argus: The tool found in the sofa cushion The tool found in the sofa cushion

Tania rushed to the branch of the discount variety store where she had bought the sofa to complain, but said she was disappointed when she was directed to the manufacturer.

“They didn’t want to be responsible for the situation they wanted to pass it on to someone else – it's just taking accountability,” she said.

“I'm their customer and they should be dealing with me; I shouldn’t be put forward to whoever their suppliers are.”

The cushions had been purchased in November last year, with the family using them regularly since.

Tania said her children were pretending to be superheroes when Leo landed on the cushion in question and began to scream.

The five-year-old was left with a scratch on his right thigh.

The Argus: Leo Gomez, five, suffered a scratch on his thigh Leo Gomez, five, suffered a scratch on his thigh

Tania said her partner Hugo Gomez, 30, inspected the cushion and found “a metal tool sticking out”.

“We were absolutely shocked it could have severely hurt my son,” she said.

She said the manufacturer eventually explained that the tool was used to stuff cushions and had been left there by “human error”.

“It’s a massive tool, if you're stuffing cushions and all of a sudden your tool went missing wouldn't you report it?,” she added.

A spokesman for B&M said: “We take the safety of our shoppers as an utmost priority and have conducted a full investigation, alongside the manufacturer.

"We have spoken directly to Tania and resolved the matter to her satisfaction.”

The manufacturer offered a £100 Next voucher as compensation, which Tania accepted.

The Argus: Tania Ferreira with her partner Hugo Gomez and their sons Leo and Lucas Gomez Tania Ferreira with her partner Hugo Gomez and their sons Leo and Lucas Gomez

The mother again returned to B&M to demand a refund. However, the shop refused and instead offered a voucher.

“If the cushion is faulty why would I want a voucher?” she said. “It's just not on - they completely disregarded me, and they said you have to deal with manufacturers.

“The manufacturer was clueless, they don’t deal with customers

“I just hope in future, if any situation was to occur, they deal with their customers first make sure they're reassured and not kind of brushed off to someone else.”