THE Minister appointed to oversee the protection of UK food supplies through Brexit has visited Nestle's York factory.

David Rutley was given first hand insight into the confectionery giant’s operations and supply chains, heard about the factory’s drive to continually improve its global competitiveness and discussed UK Industrial Strategy and Brexit with senior Nestlé managers.

He was later given a behind the scenes tour of the KitKat manufacturing plant off Haxby Road, where up to five million of the chocolate and wafer bars are made every day.

Mr Rutley, who was appointed in September amid growing concerns about a no-deal Brexit, said: “It was exciting to see first-hand the innovative techniques used at Nestlé to produce not just iconic brands but new foods for the global market."

Nestlé’s corporate communications director Ian Rayson said the York factory was a great example of a world class manufacturing site in the UK that exported to countries around the world, adding: “Over the past 30 years we have invested more than half a billion pounds in our York site, which is also the home of our global confectionery R&D centre."