Our waistlines will probably thank them, but not our wallets!

Families across the country might find their traditional tin of Quality Street going empty a bit quicker this Christmas, and it’s not because there's a secret eater in the house.

It has been revealed food giant Nestle have shrunk the tins of chocolates just before the Christmas period when sales of the sweets are at their highest.

Although our waistlines might be grateful to them, our wallets definitely won’t as the company is being criticised for failing to reduce the price of the chocolates. Campaigners are describing the move as a “hidden price rise”.

The famous purple tin has been reduced in size by 18 per cent, from 1kg to 820g.

A report in trade magazine The Grocer said; “The Christmas shrink ray has struck again, and this year it is Nestle pulling the trigger.

“The tins are being sold by Tesco for the same price as last year’s larger tins, though Nestle claimed the recommended selling price was lower.”

Quality or quantity?!

The shrinking tin magic trick is part of a trend amongst confectionary manufacturers to reduce product sizes because of rising production costs.

Another Christmas favourite, Cadbury’s Roses, were reduced from 975g to 850g by manufacturer Kraft last year, while the American company also cut their tasty Heroes from 950g to 800g.

We say Quality Street could cut costs by just leaving out the Orange Crunch ones, they’re like the Bountys of the Celebrations box, always last to be eaten.

Consumer watchdog 'Which?' accused confectionary companies of “treating customers like idiots”.

The executive director Richard Lloyd said; “We think these shrinking products are little more than hidden price rises.”

A spokesman for Nestle said the new tin size weight was now in line with similar products on the market who reduced their weight in previous years.