Coals to Newcastle, as pound shop imports Polos from Asia to sell in York

Poundworld has been criticised for making the decision to get the mints from Asia country rather than using the Nestle factory around the corner.

But the arrangement appears to work out cheaper for the penny-pinching shop owners - who are able to undercut other sellers in the area on price.

Andy D'Agorne, leader of City of York Council's Green Party group, said the situation was farcical and compared it to 'taking coals to Newcastle'.

He said: 'It's part of the nonsense of the global economy. We are certainly keen to promote local food and the reduction of food miles is very much what we are about.

"This typifies the needless international transportation of food. People are becoming more aware of things like carbon footprints."

Coun D'Agorne said the company's excuse would probably be that it was cheaper to buy Polos from Indonesia and import them than buy them in the UK, but said that was missing the point.

He said: "It's cheaper on the basis of the current economic system that takes no account of the environmental impact. If the true environmental impact was taken into account they would be far more expensive."

Poundworld sells multipacks of eight rolls of 18 Polos for 1, equivalent to 0.7p per Polo, while a typical shop in York sells UK-made Polos in tubs of 20 for 49p - or 2.45p per Polo.

A Poundworld spokeswoman said their customers expected "exceptional value for money" and the firm could not offer as good value if it bought UK-made products.

She said the Polos were bought from a UK wholesaler, so Poundworld itself was not involved in transporting the sweets from the Far East.

A Nestle spokesman said: "Unfortunately, it is out of our control if retailers import items via the grey market that were never designed for the UK. The Polos made in York are for the UK market.

"We would never bring Polos from Asia to sell in Poundworld. Providing they are acting legally there is not much we can do."