CHOCOLATE lovers have a Weston business to thank for making Easter extra special this year after the company teamed up with a major supermarket chain.

Shelves at Waitrose have been invaded recently by chocolate woodland creatures developed by Westfield Patterns. The Oldmixon Crescent-based firm has helped produce around 120,000 of the critters since August last year.

The 3D casters worked with Waitrose designs to mould chocolate produced by Cornish chocolatiers.

Director Angie Whitfield said she was delighted with how the venture is going.

She said: “We are very excited about the whole project and working with Waitrose and County Confectionery is very enjoyable because we can work so closely together. It’s has made a big difference in the growth of our company and highlights the skills small companies can bring to big projects.”

Mrs Whitfield said the current collection of creatures will soon be joined by three new friends, one of which will be designed by a competition winner.

She added: “It is not just a case of being able to draw and design, the technical aspect is critical to making the moulds work not just from the vacuum forming aspect but also for the chocolatiers working process and machinery.

“We’re the engineers behind it all. We develop the designs straight from drawings on the page.”

The business will also feature in a new BBC show hosted by Gregg Wallace which looks at how Waitrose works with its suppliers.