A CHEESE company which was accused of "castrating" the Cerne Abbas Giant has reinstated the famous Dorset figure's manhood on the packaging of their product.

In June, The Oxford Cheese Company was criticised for featuring the Cerne Giant on its 'Cerne Abbas Man vintage cheddar' - minus the figure's oversized phallus.

Bournemouth Echo: The cheese packaging previously featured the Cerne Giant without his oversized phallusThe cheese packaging previously featured the Cerne Giant without his oversized phallus (Image: BNPS)

However, customers who have recently purchased the Dorset-inspired product have seen the Giant's manhood now featured on the packaging for the cheese.

Oxfordshire resident Ivan Kirby purchased the cheese from a shop in Yarnton, near the city, after being amused by the change in packaging.

He said the change was a "victory for common sense".

He added: "I think it’s splendid that they’ve seen sense and truly made their vintage cheddar full strength."

At 180ft, the Cerne Giant is Britain’s largest, and possibly best-known, chalk hill figure.

Various theories abound the club-wielding giant and his mysteriously large appendage. Many believe the carving is an ancient fertility symbol, whilst others say it depicts the Greco-Roman hero Hercules.

Vic Irvine, head brewer at Cerne Abbas Brewery previously accused the cheesemakers of "emasculating" the giant.

“I think (the cheese manufacturers) are terrible rotters for taking our giant and taking his penis off him," he said earlier this year.

Mr Irvine said he was pleased to see the giant's phallus become part of the packaging but hit out at the company for using the Dorset Giant's image without making cheese in the village where it sits.

He said: "It's obviously nice to see our Giant restored to his former glory after being emasculated so disrespectfully. 

"However the original "cheddar" wasn't even made in the Somerset parish with the famous gorge and then for the mystery substance to be marketed by a cheesemonger of Oxford smacks of desperation.

"We are proud of our Dorset heritage and we can see the Giant from our brewery and more importantly he can see us! We love our village and we love our Giant.   

"We brew beer with barley grown in the Cerne Valley and harvest our own hops that we grow up the side of the brewery in September as we firmly believe that local is best."

The Oxford Cheese Company has been contacted for comment.