Snow sculpture car gets parking ticket

Traffic wardens slipped up in Germany when they left a parking ticket - on a full-sized snow sculpture of a Volkswagen Beetle.

Pranksters had built the car overnight in a no-parking zone in Aachen, complete with outlines for its headlights, windscreens and even the distinctive VW badge on the bonnet.

"It was incredibly realistic looking. It looked like you could get into it and drive away once you'd swept the snow off," said one local.

"The wardens eventually realised they'd been had when they tried to scrape the snow off the number plate and found there was no plate, just snow," they added.

But the prank has received a frosty reception from local police.

A spokesman said: "We can take a joke as well as the next person and it was a very convincing prank.

"But whether it was made of metal or snow it was still obstructing a road that should have been clear."