A disgusted diner lost his rag with a Chinese takeaway when he found a dirty dishcloth in a hotpot he had bought to eat with workmates.

The cloth – which had sunk to the bottom of the pot – only surfaced after some of the meal had been eaten.

Two women – reported local media in Chengdu, Sichuan Province – were so revolted they vomited on the spot.

A grim video of the meal shows a blue-grey cloth dripping with hotpot and soup as one of the diners holds it up with chopsticks.

The buyer – identified only as Ning – told local media he had bought the dish from a branch of the Shaohuo Instant Hot Pot food chain on 28th December.

At first, he said, he thought the dishcloth was a piece of particularly tough tripe.

It was only when he tried to cut it up that he realised what it was.

When contacted by local media, the company – which has 50 stores across China- claimed it had been a mistake by a junior staff member who has since been fired.

They added that they had closed the branch and plan to pay the customer compensation.

However, the offer was refused and Mr Ning said his only request remained that the local government get involved and investigate.

So far, none of the six people that ate the hotpot meals has been taken sick.