An economics expert at Coventry University has said it should be made more difficult for companies - whether British or foreign - to make take-over bids for established British firms.

Professor David Bailey from Coventry University's Business School was speaking as new reports from the US suggest that chocolate firm Hershey is now contemplating a solo bid in an effort to get its hands on the iconic British brand, Cadbury.

Analysts are suggesting that Hershey is looking at an offer of at least £10.2bn (or $17bn) to outflank Kraft's hostile bid of £9.8bn.

Professor Bailey said: "Hershey has eyed Cadbury before (notably back in 2008) and the appeal for Hershey is obvious. The latter is very much limited in its market appeal to North and South America, and is around just half the size of Cadbury. Cadbury would open up new markets in Europe and, critically, emerging markets such as India."

Although Hershey has more in common with Cadbury than rival bidder, Kraft, there would of course be no real guarantees that production would stay in the UK.

However, one of the main concerns for Professor Bailey is the behaviour of RBS, the British based bank which is now helping to bankroll Kraft's hostile bid for Cadbury.

Professor Bailey said: "Unlike other banks, RBS apparently left it until the last possible moment to tell Cadbury what it was doing and it is ironic that a bank that needed to be bailed out by taxpayers is now helping to prop up a hostile take-over bid for a well known and well loved British company.

"Most takeovers fail. They fail for shareholders let alone workers and society. They fail because of the disruption and organisational costs that they impose. They fail because shareholders, especially the hedge funds all too often lack long-term commitment and are too often willing to sell out for a quick profit without thinking about the long-term downside for them or for society"

"The upshot is that takeovers, especially hostile ones, need to be made more difficult so that efficient businesses can plan and invest long-term and grow their businesses organically."

Professor Bailey believes that one way to avoid hostile takeover bids is to put in place a tougher competition policy which scrutinises takeovers more carefully.

Professor Bailey added: "There are various ways in which hostile takeover bids could be discouraged. Competition law could be amended to scrutinise such bids more intensely, the takeover code could be changed so that bidders have to signal at an earlier trigger point that they are looking to make a takeover, and corporate governance could be changed to give other stakeholders a say. We need to 'throw some sand' in the wheels of the takeover machine".