A woman was stunned to discover a brand new pair of shoes she wore on a shopping trip had been badly corroded by a mystery toxic substance.

Bridget Smith, of Ingrow, returned home one day to find the soles of the £40 shoes — which she had bought the previous day — had been destroyed.

She had just spent two hours walking around the town centre with her husband. “My feet had been feeling warm but I didn’t really think anything of it,” she said.

“Then I saw what had happened to the soles and I was absolutely shocked. Whatever it was had started to get inside the shoes so I’m very lucky my feet weren’t burned.

“There definitely wasn’t anything wrong with the shoes so this must have been something which had been dumped on the ground outside.

She said during her walk around the town centre she visited the Airedale Shopping Centre, Hanover Street and Cavendish Street, while visiting both Morrisons and Sainsbury’s supermarkets.

However, she said she did not know exactly where she had stepped in the corrosive fluid.

She said she visited the Bradford Council One Stop Shop, in the town hall, which put her through to environmental health.

She described the route she had taken to the council office but was told no immediate action could be taken unless the precise location of the pollution was identified.

She said she believed the council did not seem to recognise the potential risk posed to children or people in thin-soled footwear.

“I’m not bothered about the damage done to my shoes – this could easily have put someone else in hospital,” she added.

Her husband, Terance, 61, said: “This could really have hurt a toddler or someone’s pet.”

A spokesman for Bradford Council responded: “We have received no other complaints about this.

“Unfortunately in the absence of any specific information about the location or alleged substance, we cannot investigate the matter.”