AMERICAN confectionery giant Hershey has obtained a lawsuit barring an import firm from bringing York-made Yorkie bars into America.

Hershey claimed Yorkies were one of a number of British chocolates by Nestlé and Cadbury which might confuse customers with similar wrappings and names or infringed the company's US licences.

American media reports said Yorkie bars had been blocked because their name might be confused with 'York Peppermint Patties,' and Hershey had said that the lawsuit was necessary to defend its commercial interests.

A Nestlé spokesman said a company had been importing Yorkie and Toffee Crisp to America but was no longer doing so.

"The amount is relatively small and we expect to export more to the US in 2015 than we did in 2014," he said, adding that in the early 1970s, former York confectioner Rowntree had licensed Kit Kats and some other chocolates to Hershey, so it now made them in America rather than Nestlé.