THE England football team's taste for Jaffa Cakes during the World Cup helped United Biscuits (UB) net higher first-half sales, the group claims.

The chocolate, sponge and orange cakes high calorie level meant they were the official snack of Sven-Goran Eriksson's men during the tournament.

UB's chief executive, Malcolm Ritchie, said the publicity generated by the deal meant sales of Jaffa Cakes doubled during the competition.

"Demand was so high we were right at the top end of capacity in our Manchester plant. If we could have made more we would have," he said.

UB employs about 1,300 staff in the North-East, including almost 200 at Derwent Valley Foods, maker of Phileas Fogg snacks, in Consett, County Durham, and 1,100 at KP Crisps in Billingham, Teesside.

The business, which left the stockmarket in 2000, has focused on its key brands, which also include Hula Hoops, McVitie's and Penguin, and sold non-core operations.

The company was taken private by a consortium, including private equity group Cinven for £1.25bn.

Although UB has not ruled out a return to the stockmarket in the future, Mr Ritchie said it was far too early to talk about rejoining, given the group's growth.

He said: "There's a lot more to come from UB on the route we are on."

Sales of key brands rose 5.8 per cent in the six months to July 13, helping UB's total turnover edge 2.2 per cent higher to £644.5m.

The growth helped underlying earnings climb 19 per cent to £76.3m as margins were boosted by UB's cost-cutting drive.

The group wants to take £65m off its cost base by the end of the year, and said it had so far reached £47m.

Since the turn of the year UB has introduced a range of products including bite-size chocolate-covered McVitie biscuits - McV Munchbites.

Marketing investment rose by 9.8 per cent in the first half after the relaunch of the McVitie's brand, the biggest in its 121-year history.

Mr Ritchie said: "The major relaunch of McVitie's, with significant marketing support, is just one example of the renewed investment in our brands."

UB is focused on the UK, Netherlands, Spain and France and employs 11,000 staff across Western Europe with 7,000 in the UK.

In the UK it also has plants in Halifax, Rotherham and Tollcross, near Glasgow.