It's usual to indulge in some chocolate around Christmas, but one town in Germany found itself inundated after a ton of the sweet stuff spilled on to a street.
Residents in the town of Westönnen, 25 miles west of Dortmund, were left in a sticky situation on Monday night when a storage tank at the DreiMeister factory failed.
The fire brigade were called around 8pm after the liquid mass seeped out of the factory and on to a nearby street, where it hardened.
The road was closed for two hours while a specialist cleaning company was called in to remove the ten-square-metre spill.
Local newspaper Soester Anzeiger said that a 'small technical problem' had led to the spillage, without going into details.
Company boss Markus Luckey said there was a problem with one of the tanks, but production would resume again on Wednesday.
Having to stop production just before Christmas 'would have been a catastrophe' he said, adding: 'It was only a small thing. There was no major damage.'
DreiMeister is a luxury chocolate-maker that specilaises in handmade treats sold through specialist retailers.
The company has 130 regular employees and around 50 to 80 seasonal workers.
This article has been adapted from its original source.
