More than 14,000 people have signed an online petition to bring back retro school dinner favourite Turkey Twizzlers.

The much loved nineties snack was banned from school lunches after becoming an emblem of dangerous junk food for children, due in part to celebrity chef Jamie Oliver's 2005 TV campaign against childhood obesity.

But Kirsty Rogers, who started the petition on change.org, believes that today's school children are missing out by not being allowed a taste of the twizzlers.

She said: 'To think my kids will never experience the taste of them makes me want to get this petition as far as possible'.

Bernard Matthews halted production of the childhood staple shortly after Jamie Oliver's high profile TV show Jamie's School Dinners aired, in an attempt to avoid further twizzler related criticism.

Turkey-gate was the first in a decade long period of difficulties for the Norfolk company, which came close to collapse in 2013.

Although not the first petition demanding the return of Turkey Twizzlers, the extraordinary signature count makes it the most successful so far.

The petition has attracted a tirade of twizzler fans, many of whom are angry at Jamie Oliver for encouraging a government crack down on processed food.

Francessca Horstead said: 'I want the right to choose what I eat, not to be told what I can and can't eat.'

Hannah Can said: 'We should have the choice to eat what we want as long as the education is there. They feel like such a distant memory, but oh my god they were good.'

And Elliot Gascoigne added: 'I lust for the chance to taste these delicious swirls of happiness once more. If an adult can buy a pack of cigarettes then a adult should be allowed to buy a scrumptious screw shaped snack.'

The iconic spiralled snack contained 34pc turkey meat, the rest a mixture which included hydrogenated vegetable oil, turkey skin and a cocktail of 17 different flavouring powders and colours. When cooked, each twizzler packed 21.2pc fat – double the recommended 10pc for children.

Despite its reputation, at the time of writing the petition only needs around 700 more signatures to hit its 15,000 target.

It's clear Turkey Twizzlers will continue to live on in the heart of nostalgic fans for a long time to come.