A woman was left fearing for her life when she received toxic chemicals in the post which had been bound for a lab in the United States.
Sophie Jones, 35, had ordered electrical items for her job so was delighted when a delivery arrived from DHL.
However the alarm bells went off when she realised the two boxes had “dangerous goods” written on the side.
She called DHL and says she was told the label was old.
When she peered inside one dried ice fell on to the floor, causing her to fear what exactly she had been sent.
She later found out it contained £70,000 of goods from Siemens Healthcare Diagnosis, which had been meant to arrive at a lab in the US.
Instead they sat in her kitchen in Plymouth.
Sophie told the Sun: “It was like something from a sci-fi film.
“I quickly closed it and I’ve been too scared to open it again.
“I’m worried it could be something poisonous which I’ve now got in my house.”
The labels suggested the boxes contained packages linked to pregnancy testing, it is reported, but in fact did not.
She was later advised to remove them both from her home over fears of toxic fumes.
DHL later removed them and a spokesman said of the mistake: “We’d like to offer our apologies to Ms Jones for the incorrect delivery and the challenge she faced arranging collection.”
A Siemens spokesperson added: “They contained ingredients for medical tests and were addressed to a company site in the United States.”
