The identity of litter louts who spent months blighting a housing estate with half-eaten chocolate has been revealed - as greedy squirrels.<br /><br />Locals living in Dudley Crescent in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire became gripped by the 'whodunnit' after Blue Riband bars kept appearing.<br /><br />The saga - dubbed 'Wafergate' - was discussed daily on the estate WhatsApp group, with theories and accusations spreading through the community.<br /><br />The mystery was finally solved after a local who works in a nearby caravan storage facility spotted dozens of Blue Ribands inside a skip.<br /><br />Another resident then spotted squirrels running up a tree with wrappers - and put two and two together.<br /><br />Local Fiona Downes, 33, a full-time mum, said: “I first noticed all these wrappers back in September.<br /><br />“We live on a private estate on an ex-RAF base - it’s a very close-knit community.<br /><br />“I was walking my children and suddenly noticed there’s loads of Blue Riband wrappers everywhere.<br /><br />“I posted a picture on our WhatsApp group, asking people to please pick up their wrappers if they've been eating chocolate bars.”<br /><br />But no one fessed up and, over the following months, more wrappers and half-eaten chocolate bars continued to appear.<br /><br />Fiona said: “It became a big topic among residents. Everyone was desperate to uncover the culprit. It was a big mystery.<br /><br />“People were getting annoyed, thinking someone was just littering. While others thought maybe it’s the bin men. Suspicions were growing.”<br /><br />All became clear on Tuesday, November 21, when a resident spotted the skip on a site just behind the estate - with a box of Blue Ribands inside.<br /><br />Another resident, Natalie Clarke, managed to snap pictures of squirrels scurrying up a tree, chocolate in mouth.<br /><br />Fiona said: “Squirrels had clearly been in there and stolen them all.<br /><br />"We don’t know where their stash is but there was definitely some kind of box of the chocolate bars in the skip.<br /><br />“It only took three months to work out!”<br /><br />Full-time mum Natalie, 42, said: "We spent months finding these wrappers, we all got a bit obsessed and were trying to hunt people down.<br /><br />"We were trying to work out who buys wafers from Aldi before we realised that squirrels were doing it.<br /><br />"When I saw them I was like 'oh my God I've finally found proof'.<br /><br />"The sheer volume of the bars honestly, they must be going through 100 of them a week."<br /><br />Fiona said: “Once somebody had posted the pictures of squirrels it took the excitement away.<br /><br />“Then it seemed to calm down and we thought they might have finished their supply but in the past few days lots of the wrappers have been appearing again.<br /><br />“We’re not sure why the chocolate was left on our property. Maybe it was an out-of-date box."<br /><br />Fiona added that the whole saga has been “a good bit of fun.”<br /><br />She said: “It’s become a huge joke with everyone and we’ve all had a good laugh.<br /><br />“I'd like to know how a squirrel opens a chocolate bar. They probably won’t be able to walk now due to putting on so much weight.”<br /><br />But since the discovery of the true culprits, residents say the fury thieves have doubled down, and are on a chocolate rampage.<br /><br />Natalie said: "They have ramped it up even more since we found out, every day I'm picking up wrappers out of rose bushes.<br /><br />"It's been hilarious working it out."
