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You may not fancy eating it – because this chocolate Easter egg in a house near Sheffield is now some 83 years old!

The foil wrapped egg was given to Alice Bennett by her son Frank Bennett in March 1940, as a present to commemorate him joining the army during World War II, and has been on display every year since.

She said it was "too nice" to eat - and instead proudly displayed it in her lounge every Easter - a tradition carried on by Frank, and now his son Martin, 75.

The egg is still complete in original packaging and is believed to have been imported by an Australian manufacturer, Pascall.

You may not fancy eating it – because this chocolate Easter egg in a house near Sheffield is now some 83 years old! Martin Bennett, 75, now owns the 83-year-old Easter Egg that's been passed down through his family

Married dad-of-three Martin, a pharmacist from the village of Wales, between Sheffield and Rotherham, thinks it’s the world’s oldest. He said: "I'm not sure why she didn't eat it other than the fact she said it was 'too nice'.

"Perhaps nobody had ever seen one like that before. It must have been quite a complicated Easter egg at the time. It's not got an expiry date on so technically it should be okay to eat. I've never been tempted to eat it, but it's from the days that you didn't have best before. You had a look at it and smelt it and decided if you wanted to eat it or not. The Easter eggs don't seem to last long in our house now!

"I've had it since 1999 when my father moved in with us. He had it before that and before that it belonged to my grandmother. He gave the egg to her in 1940 and after she died he reclaimed the egg as she hadn't eaten it. I now of course regret not having asked my father more about it and where he got it from.

"When I looked up the company that made it they were based in Australia and New Zealand but I don't ever remember him going there. My dad was stationed in Carlisle and Manchester during the early part of the war before being shipped to India and Singapore near the end.

Martin Bennett, 75, now owns the 83-year-old Easter Egg that's been passed down through his family. See SWNS story SWSMegg. A family has proudly displayed the world's oldest chocolate Easter egg for the 83rd year in a row. The foil wrapped egg was given to Alice Bennett by her son Frank Bennett in March 1940, as a present to commemorate him joining the army during World War II. She said it was "too nice" to eat - and instead proudly displayed it in her lounge every Easter - a tradition carried on by Frank, and now his son Martin, 75.

"So the egg could have been bought in Carlisle, Manchester or Sheffield - or perhaps somewhere else where he was temporarily stationed. I never really gave it much thought; It was just part of what happened at Easter that she used to get this Easter egg out and put it up on display."

Alice, a mum-of-nine, died in 1970 and passed the egg to Frank, who died in 2011. Martin has continued that family tradition and continues to display the war-time egg with pride.

He said: "We still get it out - I'll have to get it out later this week and hope we don't manage to break it. My cousins have shown more interest in it as it's like a family folk tale. My dad was one of nine and so usually when I see them, they're always asking about the egg, it's still a talking point. My daughter is the eldest, so it'll go to her eventually and she can decide what happens next.

"I suppose it's part of our history now. It's something that reminds me of my father and grandmother and it's quite nice to get it out each year and think about them."

World's 'oldest easter egg': Rotherham family's 83-year-old uneaten chocolate Easter egg is 'world's oldest'