A sweet shop owner who sells sticks of rock with swear words running through has censored them after complaints.

Marsha Brewer, 47, said the so-called Insult Rocks are one of her best sellers at the Old Fashioned Candy Shop in Pelham Place on Hastings seafront.

Mother-of-four Mrs Brewer believes they are in keeping with the British seaside tradition of selling slightly risque novelties.

However, Hastings Borough Council has received two complaints from people offended by the language.

Officials said the resort was a family-friendly destination and the rock went against the image it was trying to promote.

Mrs Brewer, who lives in Eastbourne, said: "I don't know what all the fuss is about.

"They are not intended to offend and if they did cause offence I would take them out of the window display straight away.

"They now have little stickers with censored' written on them. It means that people have to come in the shop to see what is written on them.

"But although complaints have been made to the council no one has complained to me in person. It's just a bit of fun."

The rock, which costs £2.50 for a pack of six sticks, is displayed in the front window and on a hook.

Mrs Brewer, who has run the shop for four years, said it was popular with pensioners who bought it for their children and grandchildren.

She said: "I've taken orders from all over the place, including Canada and America.

"They are really good sellers. Of course they don't go as well as the traditional Hastings rock but they are the most popular of the jokey ones I sell."

Geoff Thorp, whose Blackpool-based firm Stanton and Novelty Confectioners make Insult Rock, said it was just a gimmick.

He said: "It's just a tongue-in-cheek product that goes right round the country.

"We sell to about 50 shops nationwide and we have never had a complaint.

"The only product we had a complaint about that was vaguely similar was our Booze Rock which is merely beer flavoured."

Council bosses said there was nothing they could do because the most offensive words have been asterisked.

Council marketing manager Kevin Boorman said: "If the rock had been inside the shop or at a high level then there would have been no problem.

"But it is displayed at child's eye height and there are some 30 or 40 packs on both sides of a double-fronted shop. It's really blatant.

"We are trying to promote Hastings as a quality, family-friendly resort by investing a lot of time and effort and this type of thing doesn't help."

In High Street in Hastings Old Town yesterday the general view appeared to be in favour of keeping the rocks covered up.

Julie Kennedy, 44, of Hollington, St Leonards, said: "I wouldn't let my kids buy them because they'd be repeating the words for the rest of the week.

"It's not the place to have them.

"This is a busy seafront road where lots of children pass and they are bound to pick up on it."

Mother-of-two Paula Heard, 32, from Ore Village, Hastings, said: "I can see it's only meant as a bit of fun but I personally wouldn't buy one.

"It's just not the type of thing I would want around because it could be a bad influence on the children."