GERMAN-MADE Smarties are on sale in York, less than a mile from the Nestl Rowntree factory where they were invented.

Giant 150-gram tubes of the children's favourite confectionery - tasting quite different to the traditional York product - are being sold for 69p at Netto's store in Layerthorpe.

A German version of another York product, After Eight, is also on sale, retailing at just 99p for a 200 gram box, compared to £2.19 for a 300 gram York-made box at Woolworths.

The Evening Press' discovery of the German imports to York comes only days after Nestl's York factory was rocked by revelations that jobs could be lost if the strong pound continues to hit exports to Europe.

Nestl said that strong domestic sales of Rowntree products in Britain had helped compensate for lost exports.

The German packets look almost identical to the original York designs, and give little indication of their foreign manufacture.

But the small print on both Smarties and After Eights states: "Nestl Chocoladen GMBH, Frankfurt, Germany."

And an examination of the ingredients also reveals important differences: The German After Eights' ingredients include cocoa liquor, butteroil and salt, none of which are mentioned in the British product.

German Smarties ingredients include cocoa liquor, lactose, butterfat, whey powder, soya lecithin and salt, unlike the York equivalent given a York Smartie.

Nestl spokesman Paul Kirkwood said: "We believe that it is in UK consumers' best interests that all Smarties,

After Eights and other Nestl products have a consistent, familiar taste.

"We are aware that some of our customers with pan-European operations choose to import product intended for overseas markets into the UK.

"We are concerned that consumers buying these imported products will not

be aware of the reason for the taste and price difference and therefore be

disappointed with their purchase."

PICTURE: German-made After Eight and Smartie products on sale in York