It’s the answer to the prayers of diet conscious iced dessert lovers all over Britain – the UK’s and quite possibly the world’s least caloric lolly has arrived.

Until now the lightest iced dessert on the UK market has been a lolly which, by comparison, has a whopping 71 calories in it.

But now a range called Not Guilty – with lollies containing as little as 26 calories - are to go on sale in Britain and will be sold exclusively by Tesco.

The news should appeal to the huge number of people who eat ice lollies all year round – 40 per cent of ice lolly sales at Tesco come during the winter months.

Said Tesco ice cream buyer Kanaiya Parekh: “Ice cream is one of the hardest foods to resist especially when the rest of your friends are all eating one.

“This can be agony for the diet conscious but at last we have an answer for all those people faced with giving in to temptation – a lolly that uses yoghurt instead of cream that has fewer calories than a slice of bread. Everyone can enjoy it without feeling guilty. “But it’s also suitable for diabetics and unlike other calorie light lollies has no added sugar.”

The lolly is made by Dutch company Freeez and has been on sale in Holland and Denmark for a few years where it is extremely popular.

It comes in three flavours – Chocolate and Vanilla; Forest Fruits; and Tropical Fruit. They come in boxes of four priced at £1.99 a box with 50p off at present.

The Not Guilty Forest Fruits and Tropical Fruit iced dessert lollies are made with yoghurt and contain only 1.6 grams of fat and 26 kcals per lolly.

The Chocolate and Vanilla ice cream lolly is made with a real Belgium milk chocolate coating and skimmed milk and contains 7.6 grams of fat and and 116 kcals per lolly.

Added Tesco’s Kanaiya Parekh: “Once upon a time ice lollies would only really sell during the summer months but now because they are made with better ingredients and generally taste better they sell all the year around.

“We sell 40 per cent of our ice lollies during the winter months and this new range is targeted at that audience.”