Warsaw, May 10: A tanker truck turned a stretch of highway into Poland's sweet spot when it spilt 12 tonnes of liquid chocolate after crashing through a traffic barrier. Local police said it was unclear why the truck belonging to a candy maker slammed into the central reservation on highway A2 between the western towns of Wrzesnia and Slupca.

After flipping over, the tanker came to rest across lanes and the chocolate barred traffic in both directions. The driver was hospitalised with a broken arm. Passing vehicles left chocolate tire marks across several kilometres before authorities closed down the highway.

A cleaning crew armed with shovels, an excavator and hot water pressure washers have begun chipping away at the chocolate that turned rock solid in the open air. "It will take several hours," local firefighter chief Bogdan Kowalski told TVN24 television. "Once it hardens, chocolate's worse than snow."