A BOLTON archaeologist has branded a Cadbury advertising campaign urging children to go on a real life treasure hunt as "shocking" and hugely "irresponsible".

Ian Trumble, Chairman of the Council for British Archaeology North West, was one of many archaeologists and experts to speak out against the campaign, which called on children to grab a metal detector and dig up sites in search of treasure.

Mr Trumble said this could cause irreparable damage to sites of historical interest.

He said: "It is a really shocking and appalling campaign. These are really important archaeological sites

"It is irresponsible."

Mr Trumble said the damage caused digging on sites of historical interest in this way would mean important information would be lost forever and added such activities could lead to fines and prosecution.

Among the sites listed included digging up silver on the River Ribble following the discovering of the Cuerdale Hoard, one of the largest Viking silver hoards ever to be discovered.

"This is not a replaceable resource and a lot of people won't understand that, reckless excavation will destroy it," he said.

Now following the backlash Cadbury has agreed to re-examine its campaign saying it was trying to "inspire families to go one adventures".

But Mr Trumble said: "No one is complaining about trying to get people involved in heritage, but this is an irresponsible way of doing so."

Mr Trumble is also the archaeology curator at Bolton Museum.

He said: "Go and visit the museum, we are planning to put on a local archaeology display later this years we have Smithills Hall and Hall i'th' Wood and there are community excavations and associations people can get involved with.

"I just can't get my head around how this campaign got through."

A Cadbury spokesperson said: "Cadbury Freddo Treasures aims to inspire families to go on everyday adventures together. Within every Cadbury Dairy Milk Little Treasures product there is a QR code that links to a closed website with recommendations of historical sites and museums, across the UK and Ireland, boasting a rich abundance of historical treasure that families can visit to create new memories together.

"It was not our intention to encourage anyone to break existing rules regarding the discovery of new archaeological artefacts and we are grateful this matter has been brought to our attention. We are in the process of updating the information on our webpage to make it clear we do not condone the breaking of such rules."

This afternoon it emerged Cadbury has taken down an advertising campaign webpage after it was accused of encouraging children and families to break the law.

The chocolate firm on Monday said it had taken down the webpage and was going to update it to "focus solely on directing families to museums where existing treasures can be found".

A spokeswoman added: "It was not our intention to encourage anyone to break existing regulations regarding the discovery of new archaeological artefacts and we are grateful this matter has been brought to our attention.

"We can now confirm that the webpage has been taken down and we are updating the content to focus solely on directing families to museums where existing treasures can be found."

The move was welcomed by Arts Minister Michael Ellis, who branded the campaign as "irresponsible".

The Northampton North MP tweeted: "I have been told that the irresponsible @CadburyUK #FreddoTreasures campaign has been taken down. While we want young people to explore our nation's history, there are obviously rules in place under the Treasure Act to protect finds. This campaign puts that at risk."

The advertising watchdog said it had received about 30 complaints about the campaign.

The Advertising Standards Authority said the general nature of the complaints was that the advert was "irresponsible" by encouraging "potentially illegal activity" such as committing trespass by accessing sites without permission, causing criminal damage by digging without permission, or by stealing objects belonging to landlords.

A spokesman said it was assessing the complaints to establish whether there are any grounds for further action, but no decision had been taken.

Historic England, the Government's heritage agency, also welcomed the site being taken down.

In a statement it said: "Unfortunately Cadbury's PR campaign encouraging digging for treasure potentially puts people at odds with the law.

"There are strict rules that protect England's archaeological heritage, including laws governing metal detection.

"We are glad to see the campaign website is no longer live and would be happy to adviseCadbury to make sure any future campaign doesn't have unwelcome results."