Chocolates from 90s left uneaten in memory of girl

News imageBBC Stephen and Rachel Peacock are sat at a black and white marble table with a giant Cadbury's selection box open next to them. All of the chocolates are unopened and still in the box. Both Stephen and Rachel look very solemn. A bouquet of yellow flowers is next to the chocolates.BBC
The chocolates have been untouched for 36 years

A selection box from the 1990s will remain uneaten in tribute to a young girl who died before she could receive it as a Christmas gift 36 years ago.

Susan Peacock, from Middlesbrough, was seven when she died in a car accident and her dad Stephen kept the Cadbury's chocolates she never opened in memory of her.

He has now passed the box on to Susan's twin sister Rachel who said she will preserve it "for as long as possible".

Rachel, 42, posted the vintage box of chocolates on social media and said she was overwhelmed by the "unbelievable" response from people with memories of loved ones who had bought them a similar gift for Christmas.

She said none of the chocolates had been eaten but one of the packets has slightly opened and "it doesn't smell too good".

"I will not be giving it a taste, I'm going to keep it for as long as possible," she said.

The chocolates have a best before date of June or July 1991 but they are in good condition after being stored in a cupboard and a bedroom drawer.

News imageRachel Peacock A colourful but slightly faded Cadbury's selection box. On the left are two Crunchie bars followed by fudges, double deckers, nut bars, dairy milk, roost, chomp, buttons, picnic bars and a selection of cream bars,Rachel Peacock
The bars in the selection box went out of date in 1991

Stephen said he "couldn't chuck away anything of Susan's" but wanted to pass the chocolates on as he is getting older.

"It's a selection box but it is a memory, I kept everything of Susan's," he said.

"The selection box was bought years ago and I have always kept it, it was in the cupboard then I put it in the bed drawer."

Rachel said she "absolutely loves" the selection box because it is "a bit of Susan".

"I just don't want her to be forgotten," she said.

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