Poundland threatened legal action against Thameslink after the rail firm compared its poor service to chocolate from the discount chain.

Responding to a passenger tweet, Thameslink said it appreciated its service was “less Ferrero Rocher and more Poundland cooking chocolate”, leading Poundland retail director Austin Cooke to spring into action.

Tweeting Charles Horton, chief executive of Thameslink’s parent firm Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR), Cooke stated Poundland served 8m shoppers last week and has a “pretty good idea about what great customer service is”.

Cooke added: “But if we ever fall short, perhaps we’ll describe ourselves as a bit Thameslink. If you don’t want to hear from our extremely twitchy legal team, we suggest you remove your tweet.”

Thameslink has since apologised for making the comment and deleted the tweet.