A SAUSAGE snack firm has cheekily waded into a row over food being banned from children’s lunch boxes.

A Peperami sausage was taken away from seven-year-old Tori Laws’ lunch after Colchester’s Cherry Tree Primary School said it was a junk food.

Angry mums said the school’s new rules on healthy lunches were unfair, as its own dinner menu included sweet treats, such as flapjacks, cookies and mousse.

Now Peperami manufacturer Jack Links has tweeted an image of its Peperami Animal angrily stating “Hey teacher, leave that kid alone!”, along with the message: “Cheeky Essex school nabs Tori’s Peperami...lunch box envy no doubt!”

The school has found itself at the centre of a media storm after the Gazette told Tori’s story on Monday with Tori’s mum Vikki being asked to appear on ITV’s Good Morning Britain.

The peperami makers are unrepentant stating: “Peperamis are an excellent addition to any lunch box, offering a deliciously meaty snack made from 100 per cent pork.

“We’re sad to hear Tori was upset and hungry after her favourite Peperami snack was confiscated, so to cheer her up, we are sending her a Peperami gift box...to enjoy outside the school gates, of course.”

However, peperamis seem to have won a reprieve.

The school, in Holt Drive, Colchester, said in a statement yesterday it had decided not to confiscate food from children’s lunch boxes any longer.

It added: “Reminders and well done slips have instead been issued.”