A mum-of-two with a life-threatening allergy to eggs was horrified when her mouth began to blister and her tongue swell when she bit into a vegan burger from a takeaway restaurant in Stevenage.

Ileana Weynberg and her husband Luke say they are regular customers of Chickaros in the High Street.

"My wife and I ordered from Chickaros recently, as we couldn't be bothered to cook," Luke explained.

"I ordered chicken and my wife ordered a vegan burger - she isn't vegan, but her egg allergy means she can't have brioche buns or normal mayonnaise.

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"Within seconds of my wife biting into her burger, she felt like her lips were tingling, which usually means an allergic reaction.

"She started to blister and felt her tongue swelling up, so she took some antihistimine, and luckily the allergic reaction calmed down.

"This could have been a life-threatening situation. She could have died. She's ended up in resus before, when we haven't caught a reaction in time."

About Chickaros, Luke said: "We have been there lots of times and never had a problem, but we usually order chicken and chips. It's the first time my wife's ordered a vegan burger.

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"When we called the restaurant, the person on the phone advised that their vegan burger does indeed use normal mayonnaise, ergo not vegan. Normal mayonnaise is made with egg and if people don't know that, they shouldn't be working with food."

A spokesperson for Chickaros said he is "very sorry to hear about the customer's exprience".

He said: "I can confirm, as a standard practice in our restaurant, the vegan burger contains vegan mayonnaise, which is made without eggs, and vegan cheese.

"We will investigate this incident, discuss with staff on duty and take further action necessary to ensure this will not happen in future.

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"We care about providing quality food for our customers and take food safety matters seriously.

"As a further action, we will reiterate training on food allergies to all employees.

"We would also love to regain the customers trust in our brand and hopefully be able to make up for the experience."