A toffee saleswoman hatched the idea of giving a giant Easter egg to handicapped youngsters at Rushden Hospital.

Alison Smart presented the gift to 14 children in Colton Ward.  Ward sister Sally Childs said the present was a nest egg being kept for a future date.

She said a party of youngsters were off on holiday to Skegness in a fortnight and the gift would be unwrapped then.

The large chocolate egg adorned with flowers was handed over to Sister Childs by Alison, of Preedy newsagents in High Street, Rushden.  She is on the toffee and chocolate counter.

The store has a franchise with Thornton’s Toffees, which donated the present to Preedy for distribution to a good cause.