An unlikely craze for skin products made from snail slime has led to a mini-boom for breeders of the gastropods in Italy.

Edible land snails have long been farmed in France as escargot, but snail farming has increased more than 325 per cent in Italy over the past two decades as a variety of snail products have boomed.

And in recent months, demand for slime from cosmetics makers has soared.

Agricultural association Coldiretti estimates 44,000 tons of live and preserved snails are produced annually in Italy – an industry now worth £180 million.