The distinctive blue Smartie, dropped amid concerns over artificial additives nearly three years ago, is to make a comeback, it was revealed today.

Nestle, which manufactures Smarties, reformulated the ingredients of the multi-coloured sugar-coated chocolate sweets to rid them of artificial colours and flavours.

Although the company was able to replicate the seven other colours, the blue Smartie – which became a cult with children because it temporarily stained tongues a dramatic bright colour - proved more of a challenge.

The company introduced a white Smartie, but the decision to banish the blue version prompted some consumers to campaign to bring it back.

More than 20 Facebook groups, boasting almost 2,000 members, were set up to ask what happened to the blue sweets and demand their return.

After an extensive search for a natural coloured dye, Nestle said it had found a way to create the blue sweet, using no artificial colours and flavours, by extracting the blue colouring from a seaweed called Spirulina.

Smarties were first introduced in 1937, and nearly 17,000 are eaten in the UK every minute.