CONFECTIONERY giant Mars is writing to the chairman of Burnley Football Club asking him to reconsider the ban placed on its Snickers bars.

It follows a "joke" which was written inside losing wrappers in a competition run by Mars which made reference to the supporters turning their backs on the team in a famous 1996 match when Jimmy Mullen was manager.

Already the company has sent 48 bars to the Mayor of Pendle, Coun Colin Waite, to apologise for the joke.

But the Clarets' hospitality manager Graham Lee decided to outlaw the peanut and chocolate snack in protest at the incident.

A spokesman for Mars said: "We are very sorry about the upset we have caused to the club and its supporters. We hope the club will reconsider and continue to sell Snickers.

"It is a great shame that we have upset people because it was not the intention. We wanted people to be able to enjoy the promotion even though they had not won a prize and featured 13 footballing stories one of which was the Burnley incident."

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