Easter eggs have gotten more expensive while shrinking in size, according to the British consumer watch dog Which.

Pricewatch editor with the Irish Times Conor Pope told The Hard Shoulder that eggs may still come packaged in big cardboard boxes - but the eggs inside are much smaller.

"They were a lot bigger 10, 15 years ago," he said.

"A lot of your listeners will expect me to come out and slam the practice of shrinkflation, because it's relly annoying - but, you know, there's a justification for it that does make sense.

"Imagine you're in a business and you're making chocolate easter eggs and the price of coco beans just absolutely skyrockets.

"You have a choice - the egg that you were selling for a fiver you could sell for ten euros, or you could keep the price at a fiver but make the egg smaller."

Mr Pope said this keeps the price point of the object still accessible while allowing the seller to keep profits up.

You can listen back to the full interview here:

Main image: Rows of Easter Eggs in a supermarket. Image: Stuart Black / Alamy Stock Photo