A row over spoilt meat has prompted an estate agent from Stanmore to sue supermarket giant Lidl.

David Benson was kept waiting outside the store in Edgware for an hour on a hot Sunday morning in June because its stated opening hours on the Lidl website were incorrect.

The 65-year-old arrived at 10am to find a hand-altered sign stuck to the door informing customers the shop would not open until 11am.

In the hour that followed, Mr Benson said dozens more confused shoppers came expecting the store to be open.

But for the Rees Drive resident, the situation was more critical.

Mr Benson had previously purchased a quantity of mince at a butcher. In a bid to protect it from the warm weather, he left the bag of meat in his car while he continued to wait for the store to open but by the time he returned the meat was spoilt and had to be thrown away.

Distressed, Mr Benson wrote letters of complaint to Lidl but they were not responded to.

Now he has taken legal action against the company for the loss of his meat and the "contemptible treatment" he has endured.

The case is due to be heard in Watford County Court on February 18.

Mr Benson, who was shopping with his wife, said the experience ruined their Sunday morning.

He said: "I realise there are those who would suggest that I am possibly over-reacting but I can assure you there were a lot of very unhappy people at 10am on that hot summer's day when they learned they would have to wait an hour for the store to open.

"The pathetic handwritten sign on the door was something to behold. We had specifically checked their website to see when they opened and it said 10am - in fact it continued to say 10am for several weeks afterwards.

"If I am honest, it is as much to do with the way they have treated me with complete contempt as much as anything else - not even an apology.

"Surely this is no way for a large company to behave?"

A spokesman for the supermarket said: "We can confirm the customer got in touch with us at 10.35am on June 7, 2015, and our customer services team investigated the matter fully.

"The Sunday opening times for Edgware had recently changed from 10am to 11am.

"Our customer services team spoke to the customer over the phone and explained this, they apologised for the confusion and offered the customer vouchers as a gesture of goodwill.

"With specific regard to the small claims case we are unable to provide any information at this time and await the outcome of the hearing."