A trailer carrying 41,184 bottles of Irn-Bru was stolen from Cumbernauld last week, with the brand taking to social media to ask for help catching the thief “orange handed”.

While in its well-known humorous style, the post did call on anyone with information to contact Police Scotland.

The post said: “We know people would do almost anything to get their hands on BRU, but someone’s clearly taken that a wee bit too literally. We also know it wasn’t our balaclava clad granny, cause she was at the bingo.

“So, we’re asking the nation to keep an eye out for 22 tonnes of missing BRU. If you spot a suspicious amount of the good stuff somewhere it definitely shouldn’t be, please let Police Scotland know.”

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The post also referenced previous incidents involving KitKat and Guinness, it even asked the brands if they “know a good detective”.

In September, thieves made off with more than 70,000 pints’ worth of Guinness, as they hit the Diageo-owned Runcorn depot.

According to police, two lorries were driven into the depot and attached to waiting trailers holding a combined total of about 800 barrels before being driven away.

While, Nestlé sought to reassure retailers and consumers in March after more than 400,000 KitKat products were stolen from a lorry during transit across Europe.

The confectionery giant confirmed that 12 tonnes of KitKat stock were taken while being transported between its factory in central Italy and a destination in Poland.

Despite the scale of the theft, Nestlé said there are no concerns around either product safety or supply disruption.