TECHNOLOGY is about to scupper a former greengrocer and his prized collection of fruit stickers.

Christopher Crawcour’s 30,000 hoard is unlikely to grow further thanks to a European Union ruling that fruit can now be “tattooed”

with brands, instead of the little peel-off stickers which currently adorn everything from apples to avocados.

It is happy news for Mr Crawcour’s long-suffering wife who has become something of a sticker widow since her husband’s hobby began to take over.

The 56-year-old, who keeps his collection in nine lever arch files at his home in Glenwood Avenue, Southend, said: “To me, this is a hobby like a stamp collection and I do it for love, so I would never even consider selling them.

“When children see these labels it encourages them to eat more fruit. If they get interested in collecting them and they see a nice sticker, they will ask their parents to buy them.

“They are always going on about obesity in children, but doing away with these stickers doesn’t help.”

Mr Crawcour, who was a Southend greengrocer for 33 years, believes his is the second largest collection in the world, following closely behind a French collector.

He said: “It’s not just me, there are lots of people like judges and solicitors who are collectors.

Some of the stickers are really beautiful. The colours are amazing.

“My wife used to help me with them, but she got a bit fed up with it. You might get sent ten mango stickers, but then you have to go through all the files to see if they are new. It can take up to two hours, so she didn’t want to bother with it any more.

“It will be a real shame if they get rid of them. In some countries they encourage kids to collect them because they know it helps them appreciate fruit.”

Last year’s EU ruling means sticky labels on fruit can be replaced by laser tattoos inking identifying information on to the skin.

The new technology is likely to hit British shelves shortly, with retailer Marks & Spencer recently signing an agreement with a laser printing company to trial it on oranges.

Marks & Spencer has said using the tattooing technology will be more environmentally sustainable.

Although, the technology has been around since 2009, the use of these chemicals – which enhance the contrast between the lasered and non-lasered parts of the fruit, making the mark much clearer – had previously been banned. It appears the EU has now decided the chemicals are not harmful to health.

The amended EU regulations now allow the use of iron oxides, hydroxides, hydroxypropyl methyl cellulose and polysorbates for marking certain fruits.

CHRISTOPHER Crawcour’s rarest stickers include Sixties labels from the giant banana distributor Chiquita.

He also has a Chiquita banana label celebrating the 1980 Winter Olympics, which were held in Lake Placid.

Chiquita banana stickers from the Sixties are said to be the rarest.

Japanese fruit labels also feature among his favourites in the collection.