THE Honey Monster was in town yesterday with a mixture of terror and fascination breaking out among children visiting Tesco Extra.

The Sugar Puffs icon spent the day at the supermarket in Ocotal Way promoting a range of new products on behalf of parent company Halo Foods.

The furry, yellow giant has been on our screens since 1976 with a whole host of different adverts, from scoring for Kevin Keegan to playing a spoof James Bond character.

A new generation of cereal lovers were treated to goody bags and the chance for photos with the television character, though many found him a little too large and frightful.

Seonaid Wilson, marketing assistant at Halo Foods, said: “The reception’s been quite good. Usually we target an audience of five to 11-year-olds, but we have actually found the younger ones are taking to him.

“He’s quite soft and they like to touch him. We’ve had a few criers. Some of them do find him a bit much at times. There have been one or two who scream the place down in places across the country.”

Oliver Maskell, seven, said: “It’s cool to have him here. He’s a lot bigger than I thought.”

Laura Maddox, nine, said: “I have seen him on TV a lot, so it’s really good to see him in Swindon. He looks quite scary.”

The monster has been touring the country promoting the new products added to the Sugar Puffs range.