Sir Richard Branson’s airline has unveiled new salt and pepper shakers for its Upper Class cabins after its former seasoning shakers became “highly collectable”.

Often finding its salt & pepper shakers appear on eBay and selling for up to ￡20 each, the carrier decided to replace the old ones and replace them with new ones that will be collected after each meal service to prevent theft.

A Virgin Atlantic spokesperson thousands of older coveted condiments were taken over the past 12 years but the new ones would be closely guarded.

“We had no idea how popular our old salt and pepper pots had become  - but we hope the new ones will be just as popular,” the spokesperson explained.

A statement from the carrier read that the new shakers were influenced by the design of class cocktail shakers and are likely to be “crowd pleasers”.