What is the connection between former Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain and a tin of Ovaltine?

Reader David Oyston was prompted to tell us after reading in the paper’s business section that the Norwood Green company Tatra Plastic Manufacturing was appealing for small plastic toys it used to make for breakfast cereal packets in the 1960s and 1970s.

“The article got me thinking of one such giveaway that I believe came with tins of Ovaltine some years ago,” said Mr Oyston, who lives in Rylands Avenue, Bingley.

“This toy was simply a narrow strip of plastic about seven or eight inches long – very much like the garden tie we use to secure plants to a trellis. One surface was ribbed along its length – imagine the edge of a coin.

“When you gripped the strip between thumb and forefinger and drew them firmly along its length you could clearly hear part of the speech that Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain gave to the public just after he had spoken with Adolf Hitler prior to the start of the Second World War.

“I’m not making this up. April 1 has been and gone. Perhaps some other reader can remember seeing one of these toys?”