Eccentric Jake Mangel-Wurzel is urging people to eat out-of-date foods - after scoffing a seven-year-old Easter Egg.

The 80-year-old said he wasn’t bothered at all to discover four chocolate eggs he found in a skip were between six and seven years past their ‘best before’ date.

He has already eaten three of them with no ill effects and says other consumers should stop being squeamish about out of date foods.

“I found the eggs in a skip on Syringa Street in Marsh,” he explained.

“I have eaten the Dairy Milk Buttons egg which was dated July 2012. I have one egg left which is a Cadbury’s Flake one which has a date of July 2011.”

Jake Mangel Wurzel eats a seven-year-old Easter egg which he found along with three others dated 2011.

Jake phoned the Examiner after reading our story about shopper Christopher McGrath who bought 12 tubes of Colgate toothpaste for £2.99 which he later found to be nearly three years out of date.

“Manufacturers just want to frighten us into throwing things away so we will buy some more,” said Jake.

“I do eat healthy stuff and I am still alive and not in bad nick for 80. I suppose I have a cast iron stomach and I am immune to all known germs. If there was a plague on the planet I would be the lone survivor.”

Jake admits that he’s been looking in bins and skips for years and has claimed some great ‘finds’ for his trouble.

“I have found brand new sandwiches before. I just sniff at them and if they seem fairly fresh I eat them.”

Earlier this week Jake came across a rocking horse in a skip along with a waterproof jacket. And he once pocketed a five pound note which he spotted in a bin in Marsh.

“I’ve been robbing skips for 40 years,” he said.

“I hate waste and I love bargains. When it comes to eating out of date food I think of myself as having a stomach like a horse - and a face to match!”

* What’s the oldest out of date food you have eaten? email: andrew.robinson@reachplc.com