Pubgoers enjoying a quiet festive drink were left scratching their heads when they found this strange brown substance in a bag of crisps!

Richard Noon shared a picture of the bizarre lump on Twitter after it came out of a bag of Burts Chips in the Wagon and Horses in Meltham on Wednesday night - and since then people across the world have been speculating about what it could be, from a fossil to an illegal substance!

Richard said: “People on Twitter are saying it’s hash and asking what it smells like - it doesn’t really smell of anything, just burnt crisps and a bit of cheese!

“We haven’t had a taste - we’re not that stupid!

The strange lump that was in a bag of crisps at the Wagon and Horses, Meltham

“It has the texture of rough charcoal and it’s about the size of a tennis ball. We think it’s a clump of pre-fried crisps that have got stuck in the oven, or a lump of seasoning.”

But Richard said the bigger debate was whether it was a crisp or a chip - adding his five-year-old son Oliver was insisting it was a chip!

He said: “Burts Chips have been great. They are sending a stamped addressed envelope for me to send it to them, and they are sending me something out (in compensation).

“Hopefully I’ll find out what it is once and for all!”

The strange lump that was in a bag of crisps at the Wagon and Horses, Meltham

A spokesperson for Burts Chips said: “We take food safety and quality very seriously and are sorry for any upset caused. The lump is likely a cluster of overcooked potato chips which have unfortunately slipped through our quality checks, as a direct result of this we will be increasing the frequency of checks made by our team of fryers so this does not happen again.

We have been consulting with Mr Noon since this issue came to light.”