McVitities biscuits to shrink packet size due to rising costs

The makers of McVities Digestive biscuits, have announced that they are shrinking the size of packets of the snack.

According to McVities owner Pladis UK, the weak sterling following Brexit has driven up the cost of ingredients and the company will now be switching from 500g packets to 400g in a bid to save money.

The news has left biscuit-lovers dismayed and angry to see one of the quintessentially UK products being thinned down. They took to social media to voice their displeasure.

One of them tweeted, ''What utter tosh. Will McVities put seven more biscuits in the pack when the pound rises again? Of course they won't,'' while another wrote, ''Can someone please explain why there is some sort of attack on food at the moment? First it was the change in Irn-Bru and now McVities are having a go. What is is this?''

Francis Grove-White, deputy director of the Open Britain campaign, said, ''No wonder the latest polling shows support for hard Brexit is crumbling.

''The everyday consequences of the post-Brexit fall on the value of the pound are difficult to digest.

''The Brextremists are taking the biscuit with their support for a recipe of leaving the Single Market and the Customs Union.''

''The rising cost of ingredients and changes in the exchange rates means it has become more expensive to bake our products,'' said Nick Bunker, UK and Ireland managing director of Pladis.

He said the change was necessary ''in these challenging times''.

A company spokeswoman denied the change was due to one specific event such as the Brexit vote, but due to ''changing market conditions and the increased cost of ingredients''.

The sweet, wheaty biscuit, is a UK staple that is often had dipped in milky tea, and is sold internationally.

''It would appear that nothing is safe from the effect of rising costs in a post-Brexit world,'' wrote The Times newspaper.