Chocolate stowaways at Mars factory

Fifteen chocolate-covered stowaways were arrested after they were found buried in more than 20 tons of cocoa powder. The illegal immigrants climbed out of a giant road tanker after it arrived at the Mars Bar factory to deliver chocolate to the confectionary firm. Coughing and spluttering on the fine, dry powder the 15 men clambered out of the top of the 37-tonne bulk tanker, their clothes covered in chocolate.

Police had been alerted after the tanker, which carries a maximum of about 25 tons of cocoa powder "crumb", when it arrived at the Mars factory in Slough, Berks., to pump its cargo into the plant ready for it to be turned into Mars bars, Twix, Snickers and M&Ms.

One Mars worker said: "Soon after the tanker arrived at the factory, the driver got on top of it to open up the hatches on the roof. "The chocolate powder is pumped out of the back by suction - in the same way that an oil tanker discharges its load at a refinery.



"When the driver looked down through the hatches into the tank, he apparently saw lots of men in brown coloured clothes - all saturated with the powder. It looks as if they had travelled into Britain in the tanker and had been lying in the cocoa powder - at least it would have cushioned the jolts as the lorry drove over the UK's bumpy roads. But goodness knows how they managed to breathe because the powder is very fine and would have been in the air.

"The tanker was about half full of chocolate powder - the usual maximum load, so there would have been room for 15 men to ride on top of it."

A spokesman for Mars said: "We can confirm that on February 4 2009 a number of people were found hiding in a tanker operated by a third party haulier that had arrived at our factory in Slough to deliver raw materials. We immediately informed Thames Valley Police who are now investigating the matter."