Flakes create 99 problems for ice-cream sellers

The flake was once so lauded because of its melt-in-the-mouth texture that its adverts described it as the “crumbliest, flakiest milk chocolate in the world” – but now ice-cream sellers say they are too flaky to do their job on a 99 cone.

Vendors insist the quality of the treat – officially called the “Cadbury 99 Flake” – has deteriorated since production was moved to Egypt.

Ice-cream sellers say they are being asked to pay through the nose for a box of shards. “You can’t give someone a 99 with a broken flake,” John Taylor, the owner of C&M Creamery Ices, told the BBC. “It’s embarrassing.”