Wedding guests have won tens of thousands of pounds worth of compensation after beansprouts served at a reception caused a deadly outbreak of food poisoning.

Rene Kwartz, 82, died in hospital three weeks after contracting salmonella at a Jewish celebration in Prestwich in August, 2010.

Now 25 other guests who were also struck down with the bug have settled civil cases against caterers Shefa Mehadrin and suppliers Duerden Brothers.

Among them were Colin Thornton, 57, and his wife Rozanne, 53.

Colin, who used to live in Prestwich and now lives in Clitheroe, Lancashire, said: “You expect to go to a wedding reception and have a nice meal, you don’t expect this to happen to anybody.

“I feel very sorry for the family that booked it. They must feel terrible but it wasn’t their fault.”

He added: “It is very annoying that we’ve had to fight for four and a half years for this.

“A person’s life has been lost.”

The outbreak was traced back to a batch of beansprouts served raw in a salmon teriyaki dish.

Expert guidance recommends they are cooked to kill any bacteria.

The bride’s mum Norma Harris was among the others infected, along with the groom and best man.

At the time she said: “We are devastated. My daughter doesn’t want to see her wedding photographs. We are in bits.”

The settlements, negotiated by Slater and Gordon, are understood to range from £1,000 to £5,000.

We document at least 55 sprout-associated outbreaks occurring worldwide affecting a total of 15,233 people since 1988. A comprehensive table of sprout-related outbreaks can be found at https://barfblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Sprout-associated-outbreaks-8-1-14.xlsx.