AN autistic eight-year-old boy has received a special delivery of 2,000 chicken nuggets – after he stopped eating when Birds Eye changed the recipe for the tasty treats.

William Stocker has Asperger's and Avoidant-Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID) which means he only eats chicken nuggets and a few other sugary foods.

His parents, Mandy and Julian Stocker, were concerned when William stopped eating the nuggets – which he has for lunch and dinner every day.

They realised the recipe had changed – and the colour of the nuggets with it – and launched an appeal for help to find stocks of the original recipe.

After learning of the appeal, Birds Eye responded to the family's plight by delivering 40kg worth of free nuggets, made with the original recipe, to the family's home in Shenstone Close, Malvern, this week.

Mrs Stocker, aged 44, "I cooked the last four nuggets on Tuesday morning and at 10.30am I had a delivery.

"They sent 2,000 free nuggets.

"Birds Eye promised to bring us the old recipe and they did. I think they cooked them especially for us. I was so happy.

"I'm pleased to have the nuggets back. I knew they had changed when I took them out of the bag and realised they are using wholegrain breadcrumbs.

"William eats them all year round, even for Christmas dinner. It's so hard, we can't take him to a restaurant, he won't eat with us, he can't even look at other foods.

"The amount of time people say put the food in front of him and he'll get hungry. But he won't, he would rather starve."

Mrs Stocker said her son's food has to be orange or red and when Birds Eye changed the colour of the nuggets to a darker brown, William stopped eating them.

"Autistic children stick to the same routine. The food has to be cold. He is brand specific. They are in their own bubble and they stick with safe food," she said.

The family unsuccessfully tried to find the original recipe nuggets, scouring supermarket freezers in Hereford and Worcester.

Mrs Stocker turned to Facebook in desperation and was overwhelmed by the level of support from friends and strangers.

"We had people dropping nuggets off for us. Friends of friends have brought round nuggets. That's how we kept him eating four a day for lunch," she said.

"It has been so nice how many people I've met from this appeal who have the same or similar problems."

Mrs Stocker said William stopped eating when he was two-years-old and health visitors told her to find a way to get him to eat.

"He found Birds Eye chicken nuggets when he was two-and-a-half. He had been eating bread and jam up to that point for breakfast lunch and dinner," she said.

Mr Stocker, aged 47, says Birds Eye's delivery has given them time to find other food for his son to eat.

During the episode, Mr Stocker even went to the extent of scraping the breadcrumbs off nuggets, cooking his own crumbs, and putting them back on in an attempt to get his son to eat again, but this did not work.

The couple have gone to a psychologist for help and have told William that he cannot eat chicken nuggets forever.

They currently cook the nuggets and let them cool down for half-an-hour, as William will only eat them cold.

In addition to chicken nuggets, which William has for his lunch and dinner, he will also eat red jelly, chocolate mini rolls, Mr Kipling cakes, Jaffa Cakes and in-season strawberries.

Birds Eye also sent the family a goodie bag with toys inside it.