Smooth Mars bar discovered without signature ripple

A man who discovered a Mars bar without its signature ripple on top said he found the reaction to it on social media "bizarre".

Harry Seager's photo of the chocolate has attracted over 11,000 reactions on the Dull Men's Club group on Facebook, with one person labelling it "hideous".

The 33-year-old said he posted the photo of the chocolate, which is manufactured in Slough, Berkshire, for "a laugh".

A spokesperson for Mars Wrigley UK said the smooth bar had "slipped" through the production line and confirmed the "classic swirl" on the top of its bars had not gone away.

Mr Seager, from Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, said he was driving to a classic car show in Birmingham on Sunday, with friends, when they stopped at a service station in Thame, Oxfordshire.

"We decided to stop and fill up and get some coffees, and I thought I would get a Mars bar," he said.

"It's just what I fancied that morning."

When he opened the bar he showed his friends who had never seen anything like it before.

"I thought, 'I will take a picture of it for a laugh', and ate it, and thought nothing of it," he said.

He uploaded it to the Facebook group, where it has, so far, garnered more than 200 shares and 2,600 comments.

Commenters have labelled the chocolate bar "unsettling" and "pre-licked" - and some people have even accused Mr Seager of buying another chocolate bar and photographing it inside a Mars wrapper.

The Mars Wrigley UK spokesperson said: "With over 2.5 million Mars Bars produced daily at our Slough factory it seems this has slipped through without its signature flourish.

"While we can't reveal all the secrets behind our product line, we can promise fans that these smooth Mars Bars are a rare find and the classic swirl isn't going away."