Mystery surrounds why someone keeps dumping individually-wrapped cakes by a main road in north Wales.

People living in Dolwyddelan, Conwy county, have been finding almond tarts, lemon tarts and Eccles cakes on verges by the A470 – still in their plastic wrapping.

The cakes have been appearing for several months, and though some have started to decay, others are still in date.

Margaret’s Country Kitchen, the manufacturer behind the cakes, has asked the “phantom iced tart flinger” to desist from littering the Eryri National Park.

People living north of the village started noticing the cakes towards the end of last year on a stretch of the A470 north of Dolwyddelan.

One resident, Paul Donnelly, has spotted them regularly and picked them up while out walking his dogs.

“It’s been going on for a few months now”, he said. “Though this week, we’ve had quite a major dumping.”

“There were three earlier this week, and another two on Friday,” he added.

“I didn’t really notice them at first, but when the packaging started to get familiar, I noticed a pattern.

“The strangest thing is that they’re still sealed in their packaging, and some are still in date – if someone’s bought them, then why just throw them away?”

People have been discussing the cakes around the village of Dolwyddelan, and concluded they’ve almost certainly been thrown from a passing vehicle.

One person suggested the cakes may be the work of a “phantom iced tart flinger”.

Another wondered if it was someone trying to get rid of stock past its sell-by-date, or about to go out of date.

Although residents are finding the situation funny, they say it’s frustrating because it is littering the Eryri National Park.

The cakes are all from the same manufacturer, a brand called Margaret’s Country Kitchen, based in Warwick.

Paul Donnelly added: “It doesn’t feel like a publicity stunt for a brand of cakes, because some of them have been in an advanced state of decay when we’ve found them.

“But that’s the more important point – however they got here, they’re littering the countryside and making the verges look a mess.

“The village has a group of people – Doli in Bloom – who do regular litter picks, but roadside litter like this doesn’t help.

“The plastic wrapping is bad news for the environment, as it won’t decay. I just wish whoever is doing this would stop.”

Margaret’s Country Kitchen said it was “deeply concerned” by the recent reports, adding such actions harm the environment and fail to reflect the care it puts into its products.

It said: “It was with great surprise that we learned someone who has purchased our delicious cakes would choose to treat them in this manner.”

The manufacturer is currently investigating the matter and, should the packaging reveal any batch codes, said it will try to trace the origin of the product.

“In any event, we must ask the elusive ‘phantom iced tart flinger’ to desist from this practice,” it added.

The company said any customer wishing to dispose of unwanted products should either return it directly or use a recognised food waste disposal service.