When Andrew Farrugia is given a giant block of chocolate, ice or butter he quickly gets to work to uncover the shape that lies deep within the slab and the end result is astonishing.

Farrugia was recently chosen by a leading Belgian chocolate firm – Becolade – to make a chocolate train. With his attention to detail and painstaking patience and craftsmanship he made an impressive 34-metres-long train. The previous world record was for a chocolate sculpture of 15 metres.

Farrugia, a full-time lecturer at the Institution of Tourism Studies, has sculpted figures in various materials, including ice and butter, to create a variety of shapes, sculptures and memorable items that have become world hits and is regarded as a master chocolatier.

The train was assembled in Malta and shipped to Brussels where it became an immediate hit attraction with the media.

The Maltese ambassador to Belgium Vanessa Frasier jokingly told Farrugia it seemed people were much more excited by chocolate than politics.