Police officers in Scotland were called to an interactive Willy Wonka "celebration of chocolate" that just turned out to be a sparsely decorated warehouse and had children in tears.
The "Welcome to Willy's Chocolate Experience" in Glasgow had promised an "immersive experience" based on the Warner Bros box office smash Wonka, which stars Timothée Chalamet as the young chocolate entrepreneur. The event's pre-publicity said there would be giant mushrooms, candy canes and chocolate fountains, along with special audio and visual effects.
It also said there would be dancing Oompa-Loompas.
However, parents, who had paid out hundreds of dollars to attend, were furious at the at the event - which just turned out to be a sparsely decorated warehouse that reportedly had children in tears.
Organisers of the event from the group House of Illuminati apologised to parents and promised full refunds, claiming the event had been plagued with technical issues before cancelling it halfway through.
"Unfortunately, [at the] last minute we were let down in many areas of our event and tried our best to continue... and push through and now realise we probably should have cancelled first thing this morning instead," they said.
A Facebook group set up by furious families blasted the event as a "farce" and the organisers as "cowboys". Police officers were called in after angry complaints at the scene threatened to boil over.
One actor who had been hired to take part told local news his heart had sunk after he visited the venue and saw props scattered through a nearly empty warehouse and backdrops pinned on to the walls, rather than the promised immersive experiences.
"I just felt sad because I was aware of how many kids were going to be coming through.
"We were told to hand the kids a couple of jellybeans and a quarter cup of lemonade at the end."
