SAVE Our Smarties! That's the demand of a new website-based campaign against Nestle Rowntree job losses and the transfer of iconic chocolate brands abroad.

The campaign has been launched in the wake of last week's announcement of 645 York redundancies by an organisation calling itself Union Of Great Britain.

The group says it has been sparked by the decision to transfer production of several iconic brands abroad, including the children's favourite chocolate beans, Smarties, which is moving to Hamburg in Germany.

Nestle managers have defended their decision to transfer Smarties production to Hamburg from its York birthplace, saying that production costs there would be cheaper, thanks to the building, production layout, costs and surplus capacity.

But a spokeswoman for UGB said they felt that "enough is enough".

She said: "We have seen thousands of jobs and businesses taken overseas by foreign investors, depriving UK workers of jobs."

She said the organisation consisted of a small group of individuals - not affiliated to any political party, trades union or religion - who were concerned about the continuing loss of British jobs overseas. She declined to reveal their identities.

She said the group happened to have been launched last Friday, by coincidence only two days after Nestle's announcement, and it had decided to make Save Our Smarties its first campaign.

The Save Our Smarties T-shirts and mug are being sold through its website, at £12.80 for a T-shirt in 100 per cent cotton and at £6.16 for a pack of five badges.

"We are encouraging members of unions to support our campaign," she said.

The spokeswoman added: "We have all seen the banks migrating the call centres overseas, not to save or rescue the business from a disaster but for economic profit, making thousands unemployed.

"This has gone on and on for several years, in addition to well-established brand names also moving overseas - Vauxhall, Ford, Peugeot, Terry's, Nestle, HP Sauce. The list goes on and on."

A spokeswoman for Nestle said: "We understand the disappointment caused by moving the production of Smarties to Germany. However, it is important to note that Smarties have actually been made at the former Rowntree factory in Hamburg since the 1960s and this factory has been providing the UK with Smarties for many years.

"So, sad as it is to transfer all production from York, the fact is the Smarties plant at York was fit for purpose in the 1930s, but has now reached the end of its working life and is outdated for 21st century manufacturing. Therefore the transfer to Hamburg means they can be made more efficiently."