Instead the meat was limp and paper ... and gingerbread cake instead, priced £3.95. The festive-looking sponge was topped with gold-coloured curls and politically correct gingerbread "people".

"Sainsburys, give your head a wobble," said one follower, with another adding: "Gingerbread man, not people, the world has gone mad," and a third adding: "They will always be gingerbread men." ...

Line two baking trays with baking paper. Roll the dough out to a 0.5cm/¼in thickness on a lightly floured surface. Using cutters, cut out the gingerbread men shapes and place on the baking tray ...