German cop on the beat 22 years without driving licence

A policeman from the former communist East Germany has been doing the rounds in his squad car for 22 years without a valid driving licence, a police spokesman told AFP on Friday.

The oversight was discovered when the officer, who has not been named, found he had to wear glasses and had to change his licence which, it emerged, was valid only for tractors and motorbikes, said spokesman Bernard Wessner.

"The man was in the police force during the communist times when policemen did not necessarily do the rounds in a car," said Wessner. "After the Berlin Wall fell, no one noticed he didn't have a licence."

The officer in question faces a fine and a demotion.

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