Chocolate drops.

SALES of seasonal chocolates are set to nosedive as consumers cut back on festive excess, a report predicts.

Shoppers will splash out around pounds 420m on celebration-specific products and gift boxes this year, analysts Mintel predict.

That figure has dropped from pounds 50 lm in 2004 and will slump to around pounds 304m by 2011.

Growing health awareness means consumers are cutting down on the amount of chocolate they eat and give as gifts, Mintel's Seasonal Chocolate Confectionery report says.