When you have had a few sherbets some things can prove irresistible. Take this case of a 49-year-old man from Pajeczno in Poland.

He was responsible for loading a vintage Soviet T55 Tank, the property of the Polish military, on to a transporter lorry but the ramp broke. So, he decided that he would take it for a ride through the streets of the town, much to the consternation of the locals who feared this was the vanguard of a Russian attack. The old Bill were called.

By the time the officers caught up with the miscreant, they found the tank parked on the side of a road and the man, Drunk as a skunk, standing beside it. He had his collar felt for driving whilst drunk, for being uninsured, and “for bringing direct danger of catastrophe to land, water and air traffic”. In all, he could face up to ten years in jail.

As for the tank, it would not start again and had to be towed away.