SWEET-toothed Brits munch a staggering £250m worth of confectionery over Easter.

This year, you can almost hear the shop shelves groan under the weight of hundreds of neatly-packaged Easter eggs which seem to multiply year after year and now go on sale as early as New Year's Day.

The industry's now so lucrative that even Prince Charles is in on the act, and launched his own regally-priced range.

The days of painting a chicken egg and rolling it down a hill seem long gone. Sweet-toothed children and adults alike expect that little bit more these days.

But, as Easter becomes ever more commercialised, it's easy to forget where the egg-giving tradition originated.

It was during Pagan times that eggs came to be closely associated with Easter. They were regarded by Ancient Egyptians and Persians as potent symbols of fertility and were often decorated and given to friends and family during the spring. Early Christians then adopted the tradition to commemorate Christ's resurrection.

By the Middle Ages, colouring and decorating eggs was a common tradition in England. King Edward I famously indulged his household at Easter and ordered 450 eggs for gifts in 1290.

Eggs were also commonly forbidden during Lent, and were reintroduced on Easter Sunday, both to mark the end of the fasting period and to give as gifts.

While the humble egg's still commonly used throughout the Christian world to symbolise the resurrection, not all cultures settle for the hollowed out chocolate version we hold so fondly. In some Eastern European communities, they take eggs to church with them for the Easter Saturday blessing.

In Bulgarian tradition, people paint their eggs red and tap them against each other. The person who ends up with the last unbroken egg is set for a year of good luck.

The villagers of Haux, in France, make a huge omelette on Easter Monday. Last year's effort was made from 4,507 eggs and was almost three yards wide. The Norwegians, meanwhile, drink egg nog - with a seasonal top-up of rum or cognac.

In Germany, the contents of the egg are removed by piercing the end of each egg with a needle and blowing the contents into a bowl. The hollow eggs are dried and then hung from shrubs and trees.

But let's face it, the only eggs we really want this Easter are chocolate. Here's a guide to some of the more unusual, original and luxurious eggs on offer.