A man who posed as a police officer in an attempt to be the town “superhero” has been sentenced to six months in prison by a court in Angers.

The 39 year old used a fake police badge he had bought as part of a fancy dress costume a few years earlier to fool wrong-doers.

The first incident took place when a woman drove too close to his vehicle. The man stopped his car, approached the woman showing her his badge, and asked to see her papers.

After giving the woman a telling off, he banned her from driving for the rest of the weekend, which the woman did, thinking he was a real police officer.

A second incident involved an off-duty police officer. When asked further details about his job, the wannabe PC went back to his car and left, only to give himself up at the station the next day.

Trying to explain himself, the man said: “I saw a badly parked car on the roundabout. There had already been an accident in that spot, so I intervened.”

The man’s lawyer said during the hearing: “He wanted to become the superhero he has never been.”