It’s a rocky road as a tonne of molten chocolate spills across street

A road in the German town of Westönnen soon turned into Quality Street after a tonne of molten chocolate cascaded down it.

A tank spilled at the DreiMeister factory, sending warm chocolate on to the road in a display reminiscent of Willy Wonka’s chocolate river.

The liquid confectionery quickly solidified when it hit the chilly surface, creating what the local fire department described as a ‘choco-pancake’ covering 10 square metres.

Local authorities were forced to close the road and a team of 25 firefighters chiselled the majority of the chocolate off with shovels.

Employees of the factory helped by melting the final slippery layer from the road using hot water and blowtorches. The street was cleaned by a specialist company immediately after Monday’s incident.

Those worried about the presence of chocolate coins in their Christmas stockings need not fret, though. The fire department reported “it is unlikely a chocolate-free Christmas is imminent”, with a spokesperson for DreiMeister assuring local media that the factory would return to normal operations on the Wednesday.