Violent scenes were seen in French supermarkets chain Intermarché as customers jostled to grab a bargain on the Nutella hazelnut chocolate spread.

Intermarché supermarkets offered a 70% discount on Nutella, bringing the price down from €4.50 to €1.40.

Police were called when people began fighting and pushing one another.

One customer told French media: “They are like animals. A woman had her hair pulled, an elderly lady took a box on her head, another had a bloody hand.”

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A member of staff at one Intermarché store in central France told the regional newspaper Le Progrès: “We were trying to get in between the customers but they were pushing us.”

Similar scenes have been reported across France, with some being described as “riots”.

According to the producer, some 365 million kilos of the hazelnut chocolate spread is consumed every year in 160 countries around the world.

Nutella was created by the Ferrero family in the 1940s in the Piedmont region of Italy, which is famed for its hazelnuts.

Ferrero said it regretted January 25 violence, but noted that the discount had been unilaterally decided by Intermarché.