'Willy Wonka-style elevator' created by German firm ThyssenKrupp in 'ground-breaking' design

Waiting time for a lift will be cut down to 15 to 30 seconds, says the firm

A lift - which moves sideways as well as vertically much like the one in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - has been designed by a German company.

The "Multi" is engineered to use magnetic force instead of clunky weights and cables, which elevator firm ThyssenKrupp - who announced the development yesterday - say will save power to help it run more economically.

The characters in Roald Dahl's widely-loved story are "flung off their feet on to the floor" as Willy Wonka's glass elevator moves sideways, whizzes around corners before flying off into the sky.

However, the real-life model can only go up, down and sideways but the company says it will allow multiple lifts to occupy a single shaft to help boost passenger capacity by up to 50 per cent.

When a lift reaches the top of a shaft, it will move horizontally before descending via another channel in a "near-constant" loop formation to allow more than one carriage of people to be shuttled around a building.

They also hope the new system - which the company claims is the most ground-breaking since the invention of the lift 160 years ago - will help cut waiting time down to around 15 to 30 seconds.

Patrick Bass, head of research and development at ThyssenKrupp, said: "With this technology, the limits [on high-rise structures] will be removed and we will have futuristic buildings that previously could only be dreamed of," according to The Financial Times.