Ananova:

A German policeman left a Wiltshire pub and drove straight into a canal after mistaking it for a wet road.

Jozef Cene, 38, drove out of the car park at midnight, stopped by the canal, indicated and plunged into the water.

Locals at the Barge Inn in Honeystreet, Wiltshire, waded in to free Jozef from his submerged Fiat Punto, reports the Sun.

His legs were trapped in the car door by the water pressure, but rescuers managed to haul him to safety from the chest-high canal.

Berlin policeman Jozef was breathalysed but it proved negative. The hire car was later winched out.

He said: "I am very embarrassed. I saw the muddy water and thought it was tarmac. I am very grateful to the people who helped me out."

Pipe welder Patrick Povey, 25, who jumped in to help Jozef, said: "I was having a drink and the next thing I knew this chap drove his car straight into the canal."