What a sweetie! Nine-year-old boy's bid for sweet shop job goes down a treat

A handwritten letter sent by schoolboy Ryan Dobson to a sweet shop in South Shields (Sweets and Treats/PA)

A nine-year-old boy has applied for a job at his local sweet shop because it is "probably fun meeting happy, cheerful people and helping them find tasty sweets".

Ryan Dobson came up with the plan when his mother Lea Dobson told him that treats and activities in the school holidays had to be paid for.