A French inventor claims he has invented a pill that can imbue flatulence with the smell of roses, violets or chocolate.

Christian Poincheval, 65, says that the pills will also help ease indigestion and are made from natural ingredients including fennel, blueberries and seaweed.

On his website pilulepet.com (which translates to 'fart-pill'), Poincheval says that the medicine works by regulating digestion. The pills cost €9.99 (£8) for a jar of 60 and there is also a powdered version that can be given to "dogs that stink".

Poincheval says that the idea came to him at a dinner party with friends who had become so flatulent that "we were nearly suffocated". He determined that he would create a solution.

The tablets have been on sale since 2006, but Poincheval, who is based in the village of Gesvres in western France, says he has devised a new version in time for Christmas that will make farts smell of chocolate. He claims that he sells a few hundred jars a month.

"I have all sorts of customers," he told the Daily Telegraph. "Some buy them because they have problems with flatulence and some buy them as a joke to send to their friends. Christmases always see a surge in sales."