Umpa lumpa! It's a chocolate factory

A contact lens solution company had its work cut out when it had to create over a million litres of 'chocolate' for the Hollywood blockbuster Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

Driver. stuff tastes like water

Vickers Laboratories, which has also supplied fake blood for the films Band of Brothers and Troy, was asked to come up with a chocolate-like substance without using chemicals that might poison the star actors who had to swim in it.

The team came up with a formula of hydroxyethyl cellulose, organic pigments and the food grade biocide to produce 1.25 million litres of chocolate mixture, stored in tankers outside Pinewood film studios.

'If you like chocolate then this stuff is a great disappointment, it tastes like water,' said Vickers chief executive Julian Driver.

'The basic process was relatively straightforward. What took time was getting the right viscosity and colour. It was a very interesting project and a huge morale boost for the staff.'

Vickers Laboratories in Pudsey, West Yorkshire employs 22 people and produces sterile solutions for use with contact lenses and supplies chemicals to schools and colleges for science lessons.