The American owner of historic Birmingham chocolate firm Cadbury has come under fire again after it emerged it paid no UK corporation tax last year.

Mondelez UK, which took over ownership of the famous brand following the £11.7 billion buyout in 2010 by US food group Kraft, posted sales of £1.73 billion and pre-tax profit of £177 million last year.

The figures are revealed in newly filed accounts and, based on the standard tax rate, Mondelez UK should have paid around £36 million in corporation tax.

It is reported that the company avoided paying corporation tax by using legal accountancy techniques including a one-off gain of £42 million related to the sale of its coffee business which was exempt from tax.

The company, which runs a major factory in Bournville, has previously come under fire over its tax affairs and earlier this year the Tax Justice Network called on consumers to boycott Cadbury products for Lent and Easter.

And Ruth Cadbury, a descendant of the founders of the firm, said her forefathers would be "spinning in their urns" over the company's affairs after it emerged it avoided paying UK corporation tax in 2014 as well.

A statement from Mondelez UK said: "In common with all global businesses, we pay corporation tax based on the laws of the countries in which we operate.

"We comply with all applicable tax legislation in the UK, as directed by HMRC and the Government.

"We are a global company, operating and paying tax in more than 165 countries and on a global basis we pay hundreds of millions of dollars in corporate income tax annually.

"We are a significant contributor to the UK economy, both through direct spending on employees and suppliers, and through the recirculation of that expenditure in the wider economy."

John Christensen, from campaign group Tax Justice Network, told the Daily Mail: "Britain is a huge market for big companies like Cadbury.

"We should be pursuing them to pay tax like any other company - we are far too lenient on the big firms while we hit the small companies hard. This is wrong.

"These companies should all be treated the same. The Government needs to build capacity in HMRC to take on the big companies."