One of our chocolate bunnies is missing...

Countryfile magazine is about to organise a man-hunt – or should that be bunny hunt. It’s a sad day here in the office as I’m about to reveal.

My tale of woe began with a happy event. It’s always exciting opening the post here on Countryfile as you’re never quite sure what you’re going to get. Will it be a new pair of Alpaca woollen socks, a packet of self-cooking Chicken Tikka Masala (for when you desperately need a ruby while camping) or a book on how to become a gurning champion? My first ever freebie in the post when I started work on the magazine was a she-wee which was a strange omen of things to come, but still, it’s always nice to get a parcel.

It was exceptionally nice to get one particular parcel last week. It was yet another bleak, grey day with rain lashing against the windows when the box arrived on my desk. With a growing feeling of excitement I ripped it open and, I’m not ashamed to admit it, squealed like a two year old girl. Inside, safe in bubble-wrap, was a seven-inch milk chocolate bunny sent in by Betty's to promote their new range of seasonal novelties.

The little fellow soon attracted a lot of attention from colleagues who decided, while licking their lips, that I was suddenly their best friend to members of neighbouring magazine teams who grumbled that they never received chocolates in the post.

I fell in love with my new chocolatey chum. Ignoring the advice of Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall in his recent Chicken Run series I even named the critter I was intending to eat. And there Snuggles sat, waiting for his fate.

Imagine my horror when I came in this morning, after a lovely day yesterday up in the Countryfile TV offices up in Birmingham, to find that Snuggles had vanished. No-one knows what happened to him but there were a few stray crumbs of chocolate in his place. I’m fearing the worst but still live in hope that Snuggles is out there somewhere. I’ll let you know how the case of the missing bunny progresses but in the meantime I’m going to continue glaring suspiciously at the Gardens Illustrated team…