Staff in an Edinburgh sweet shop got themselves in a bit of a flap over the weekend when a pigeon took a dip in their chocolate fountain.  

The bird with the sweet beak, who has been nicknamed Wonka, made a bit of a splash at Thorntons in Princes Street before having to be rescued by the SSPCA.  

On Saturday morning, staff in Thorntons flew into a bit of a panic, when a pigeon swooped in the door and headed straight for the chocolate fountain.

Liz Banks from Thorntons said:  "We were just having a chat about the day ahead and this pigeon obviously decided he wanted to join us. It flew right in the door, into the fountain flapped its wings and the chocolate went absolutely everywhere."

Wonka the pigeon found himself in a very sticky situation. Staff managed to get him out of the chocolate and out of the shop but later had to ring the SSPCA when they spotted him wandering nearby unable to fly.

Fiona Thorburn took the call on her first day in the job and thought it was a wind up.

She said: "I got the call just after lunchtime on Saturday to say there was a chocolate coated pigeon walking around rose street in Edinburgh and I just thought is this some of my colleagues playing a trick on me."

But with Wonka feeling a bit flakey after his adventures, officers took him under their wing and  into the bath.

Colin Liddle from the SSPCA said: "The chocolate was coated on its wings and right down his back. Because it was in a fountain the chocolate was softer but by the time it came to us it had started to set. So we actually just washed it straight away. We've had diesel spills, we've had oil spills...but never before have we had a chocolate coated pigeon.

It took staff all morning to clean up the mess. The chocolate had to be thrown out, but Wonka is one bird that has learned a tasteful lesson.