An official letter from the new owner of Cadbury, the American food giant Kraft, looking to reassure locals has managed to ignite fury and controversy after the company spelled the name of the village, Bournville, incorrectly.

Confused directors from the Cheltenham-based UK division of the US firm referred to Bournville as Bourneville in a letter which was meant for councilor Nigel Dawkins.

In the letter, Corporate Affairs Director for UK and Ireland, Jonathan Horrell and Global Corporate Affairs and Public Affairs Director for Cadbury Great Britain and Ireland, David Oliver, had pledged to "work quickly" in order to build relations with the community which was originally founded by George Richard Cadbury way back in 1879.

Mr. Horrell and Mr. Oliver wrote, “As a Bourneville [sic] councilor we are sure you will be aware that Kraft Foods and Cadbury are coming together. We will work quickly to bring these two companies together and to maintain smooth operations and good relationships with our employees, customers, suppliers, consumers and the local communities where we have operations".

Coun Dawkins in particular has been very angry about the error in spelling and wrote a letter back to the company's directors, telling then that the act was not appreciated in Bournville, which is already anxious about the takeover.