Residents of a village named Egginton embarked on a giant Easter egg hunt when they woke up to find the “eggs” featured on their notice boards and street signs had mysteriously disappeared overnight.

Cadbury surprised the self-proclaimed “Easter-obsessed” village in Derbyshire, where the entire parish – of just 600 people – soon took to the streets in search of their missing eggs.

They were led to a large purple Cadbury Easter egg in a nearby open space, made up of hundreds of smaller eggs – one for each resident to tuck into or hide for someone else this Easter.

The antics celebrated the return of the Cadbury WorldWide Hide, a virtual challenge where people can hide an Easter egg anywhere in the world on a map for someone they love using Google Maps Street View.

Local resident Emma Malvenan said: “I spotted the ‘egg’ had gone missing from the sign at the end of my lane and wondered what in the world could have happened.”

“Before I knew it, I was part of a giant Easter Egg hide.

“I couldn’t believe Cadbury had come to our little village to have some Easter fun with us.

“It really brought everyone together and I’m so pleased we got to be part of it – we’ll remember this day for a very long time.”

Egginton is especially passionate about Easter and celebrates each year by decorating houses, streets and historic buildings in preparation for various festivities.

Cadbury brand manager Laura Gray added: “We are thrilled to have created such a memorable Easter surprise for the people of Egginton to mark the return of the Cadbury Worldwide Hide.”

“We wanted to do something a little different this year and really get people talking – we believe hiding the whole village has done egg-actly that.”

Cadbury has also partnered with the Trussell Trust and donated 75,000 Easter chocolates to local food banks across the UK this Easter.