Steve Pearn said from the moment his partner gave him a walking stick purchased from the British retail chain TK Maxx he knew something was a bit odd about the seemingly innocent item, The Sunday Telegraph reported.

Pearn told the Telegraph the stick seemed unusually heavy and while examining it, he found a tapered sword inside.

"We got the fright of our lives when the blade appeared out of the stick. It was huge and very sharp," he said.

A TK Maxx spokeswoman said after hearing about the hidden weapon, the company promptly removed the offending product from its stores.

"We took urgent steps to remove them from the floor today, therefore they are not available in any of our 220 stores," the unidentified official said, adding the store was unaware of the weapon's existence.

The Telegraph said TK Maxx officials, whose store was also blamed for selling a jacket with a penknife attached to it, have sworn to improve their regulatory policies.