Sweet-making giant Cadbury has been accused of tampering with the taste buds of local people.

The bagged black liquorice flavoured Midget Gems and Sports Mixtures, made for more than a century in Cleckheaton, are being scrapped.

They are being replaced by a blackcurrant variety to pander to tastes beyond the county.

In future, fans will only be able to buy their favourite flavour in loose form from jars.

Cadbury Trebor Bassett has taken over the manufacture of the sweets, whose traditional selling heartland has been West Yorkshire.

The company, which wants to widen the market, says research has revealed most people dislike the hard liquorice gum.

It has distressed Keighley shopkeeper David Mortimer, who runs Bracken Bank Stores in Opal Street, and a lot of his customers.

He said: "Cadbury is tinkering with tradition -- one which started in this area. The liquorice flavour should be kept throughout the range.

"When people buy a packet of Midget Gems or Sports Mixtures in future they won't be getting the genuine article."

David, who sells the sweet on the Internet to customers all over the UK and abroad, said he had received lots of e-mails lamenting the changes.

"It is not the quality of the product that is at issue, it is the changing of a tradition to pander to different tastes," he said.

He has written to Cadbury pointing out the complaints he has received.

He told them: "People would complain if you purchased Buckingham Palace and painted it pink."

Up in arms are fans like John Taylor, of Elmwood Drive, Ingrow, who buys the Midget Gems for his wife Sue.

He said: "She is not very chuffed. She likes the liquorice and has been eating them for years. She prefers them to the others.

"I thought somebody was having me on when I was told what was happening. I suppose it's a sign of the times."

And 53-year-old Dorothy Forbes, of Aberdeen, who orders her Sports Mixtures from Mr Mortimer over the Internet, said: "I love chewing a liquorice one with a fruit flavour. I've been enjoying them all my life."

A Cadbury Trebor Bassett spokesman said the liquorice gum would still be available from shops that sold Midget Gems and Sports Mixtures in jars. "Liquorice is a taste you love or hate, and most people don't like the taste," he said.