A family's peaceful lunchtime was shattered when the patio table they had bought disintegrated in the heat.

Terrie Moyles, 46, and her eight-year-old daughter, Hollie, stepped inside to get lunch after playing in the garden when they heard a “very loud noise”.

They went outside to see their glass table was in hundreds of pieces on Monday, June 6.

Ms Moyles, of Knutsford Avenue, Watford, said the family were shocked by the incident and demanded ASDA recall the product.

She said: “We ran back outside and saw the table – it had exploded into a million pieces and there was glass everywhere.

“We were both so shocked, and Hollie was upset too. We could have been out there when it happened.

“I rang ASDA because as a mum I was worried this might happen to another child. I didn’t want compensation or anything, I just wanted them to look into it before it happened again and a child – or anyone – was seriously hurt.”

Ms Moyles was told it was a one-off, but after a number of phone calls was told it had happened a “handful of times this year”.

They repeatedly asked Mrs Moyles to return the table herself despite it having large shards of glass sticking from it, and said that delivery workers would not be able to collect it due to the injury risk.

Two ASDA employees also told her not to worry about returning the table because the glass was “shatter-proof”.

The family bought the table from ASDA in Watford for £120.

Ms Moyles said: “I’m gobsmacked that nobody took this seriously. I was passed from worker to worker who all said the same thing – to take it back and get my refund, but the table wouldn’t even fit in my car.

“When it happened I was sure I’d read about it before – so I Googled it and one of the first results was about an ASDA table shattering in the heat. I also approached my PTA group, and a parent there said it had happened to them too.”

ASDA spokesperson Natalie Chandler said: “We would like to apologise to Ms Moyles for any upset caused.”