HUNGRY DAD Chris Orrell was keenly ant-icipating tucking into his favourite chocolate snack.

But when the 32-year-old took a bite out of a Vanilla Walnut Whip he found dozens of dead ants inside.

The disgruntled father-of-two, from Prestwich, immediately complained to manufacturers Nestle about the distasteful discovery, who told him they were not responsible.

Chris, a parcel delivery depot manager, said: "I took off the transparent wrapper, bit into half of it and noticed there was no cream inside. I was horrified to find up to 30 dead ants in the base."

Chris sent off the evidence by special delivery to the Nestle headquarters in York, and although he received £15 "as a gesture of goodwill" from the confectionery firm, it said it did not accept any blame.

Chris said he was unhappy with their response: "The ants were found inside a sealed wrapper, but Nestle are washing their hands of it. They have produced a product but without any duty of care to the public," he said.

The letter sent by Nestle confirmed the product had been "attacked" by ants, but stated the firm had no direct control of the goods once sold to the trade.

Part of the letter stated: "We are confident that the infestation occurred after the goods left our control and therefore we cannot accept responsibility for the unsatisfactory nature of the goods."

A spokesman for Nestle said:" We are sorry that Mr Orrell has had this experience, particularly in view of the care we take at every stage of our manufacturing and packaging to ensure goods reach consumers in good condition."

Added the spokesman: "We are sorry Mr Orrell is not happy with our response. We will send him another letter and a hamper of our products to make up for his inconvenience."