Tonne of chocolate leaks from factory and smothers German street

A tonne of chocolate has leaked from a factory and smothered a nearby street in a major spill in Germany.

Firefighters were working to pry the coating off with shovels after the sweet treat quickly solidified.

Crews used hot water and torches as they removed the chocolate following the spill in Westoennen on Tuesday.

The DreiMeister chocolate factory boss said if the spill had happened closer to Christmas, “that would have been a catastrophe”.

Company chief Markus Luckey said the factory would be back in action later on Wednesday.

A "small technical defect" involving a storage tank caused the sweet and sticky spill from the factory, German newspaper Soester Anzeiger reported.