Welsh ice cream company apologises for 'disrespectful' 'little England beyond Wales' branding

A Pembrokeshire company that makes ice cream has apologised for using the phrase "little England beyond Wales" on its packaging.

Upton Farm has vowed to remove the words from its branding following backlash on social media and said it never intended to cause offence.

One Twitter user posted a photo online of the packaging of a tub of strawberry ice cream, showing the tagline reading: "Made for you in little England beyond Wales".

The post was liked more than 700 times and read: "'Yes, hello, I would like to show the most disrespect to the local community I can with my ice cream... yes, that's perfect'..."

They go on to say they will not be buying any more products from the company.

Another Twitter user commented: "Pembrokeshire is called 'Little England beyond Wales' by colonial incomers; it must give them a sense of security/comfort.

"The majority of the natives detest that phrase."

The 'Little England beyond Wales' moniker is rooted in the Norman conquerors who established an outpost of the English crown in Pembroke after defeating Rhys ap Tewdwr in 1093. Pembrokeshire has retained some Norman place names rarely found elsewhere in Wales.

Although in 2004, an American historian argued the Normans could have been drawn to south Pembrokeshire because English tribes had lived there for centuries.

An Upton Farm spokesman apologised on behalf of the company, which they described as "a proudly Welsh business".

They added: "Being part of a community business we recognise the importance of understanding and listening to our customers and as our use of ‘Little England’ on the packaging of one of our ice creams has unwittingly caused offence to some we will be removing that reference from any future packaging.

"We believed that was a heritage phrase that helped us show pride in being from the heart of Pembrokeshire and our intent was to celebrate our geography and place in the world.

"That pride will of course remain but with messaging that more clearly celebrates our Welshness. We are sorry to those who took offence."