Part time actor caught driving fake police car

A part time actor who was caught behind the wheel of a fake police car, complete with blue flashing lights and siren, has been fined £100.

Michael Allen, 35, was spotted in the modified Volvo – which was to be used in one of his films – by an off-duty officer in Northampton on May 11 this year. The officer took down the car’s registration because he believed “it was not being driven in a manner that would reflect well on the police force”.

A court heard that the vehicle had police markings on the bonnet, rear window and rear bumper that were “crossed out” with black tape, reports the Daily Mail.

The owner was tracked down and when police searched his address they also found two ex-police fleeces, a police baton, a ballistic vest and some handcuffs.

Allen admitted a charge of using a vehicle fitted with a blue beacon and one of using the same car fitted with a siren.

The actor was fined £100 and ordered to pay £85, as well as a victim surcharge of £20 by jury prosecutors at Northampton Magistrates Court.

Defending the part time actor, Paul Harkins said his client didn’t believe he was breaking the law because the lights could only be controlled from the boot, not the car’s dashboard.

“Mr Allen ran a business called CMP Lighting Solutions and one part of the business was to prepare vehicles to be used as props in films.

“He would concede this particular vehicle was prepared as an English police car.

“The ‘blues and twos’ could not be operated from within the vehicle but only from the boot.”