THE vice-chairman of Blackburn Rovers has a lot of bottle now he is the proud owner of a record-breaking piece of chocolate.

Richard Matthewman and his wife, Lynda, bid for the world's largest chocolate champagne bottle at a charity auction in Manchester last month.

And it was chocs away for Lynda when she promptly gave the bottle away -- to local hospitals, just in time for Christmas.

The two metre-high bottle was the prize lot at an auction to raise money for the Christie Hospital, Manchester.

The giant confectionary was commissioned by Frenchman Patric Fery, the owner of Les Delices de Champagne, in the city's Triangle shopping district, who has now earned a place in the Guinness Book of Records for his creation.

The auction helped to raise more than £60,000 for Christie's.

Richard, from Blackburn, said: "It was a bit of a shock when she bought it. I don't have a sweet tooth, so it didn't appeal to me! But it's for a great cause and because it's raised money for Christie's and given some children chocolate, it's got a double benefit."

"It was my wife's idea to give it away. She was bidding for it to provide funds for the Christie and the organisers asked what she wanted to do with the bottle. She said that if it was edible, which it is, then it should be given to children over the Christmas period."

The bottle was imported from France and some of Patric's famous clients, including Coronation Street's Tracey Shaw, helped witness the official record-book measurements.

As the bottle was too big to be moved to Blackburn Rovers' Ewood Park, Lynda and Patric decided that there will be a special breaking-up ceremony in Manchester.

Patric said: "It was wonderful to finally hand over ownership of the chocolate bottle to the Matthewman's and a very generous gesture for them to then donate it back to charity."

Derian House children's hospice, Chorley, and Christie's will benefit from the charity cash, and the broken chocolate will be distributed around other children's hospices and hospitals in the North West.

Lynda said: "I can't think of a better place for 97 kg of chocolate and, hopefully, it will help bring a smile to their faces at this time of year."

Ten Chocolate Facts

The first known Cocoa plantation was in South America in 600 AD.

Cocoa was used as a form of currency by South Americans. One Zontli = 400 cocoa beans and one Xiquipilli = 8,000 beans.

Christopher Columbus was the first European to taste chocolate, in 1502.

Chocolate actually comes from the Cacao Tree, but because of a spelling error by English traders, it is now known as Cocoa.

Four average chocolate bars contain the same amount of caffeine as a cup of coffee.

A tax was imposed on chocolate in Prussia, in 1704.

The first machine-made chocolate was produced in Barcelona in 1780.

If fed to cats and dogs, chocolate can be poisonous and even fatal.

Chocolate is thought to act as an aphrodisiac, as it stimulates the body's nervous system and acts as an anti-depressant.

Cocoa beans were so valuable in 16th century Europe that 10 beans could buy a rabbit and 100 a human slave.