A closed comedy club was raided by a dozen cops after they mistook clips of an old routine posted on Facebook for it breaking coronavirus lockdown.
The Hot Water Comedy Club in Liverpool was swarming with bungling police in vans on Saturday, believing archive footage of a performance in front of a 200-strong audience was live.
Paul Blair - owner of the Liverpool venue - was baffled when he got a call at home to say police were outside the club, reports the Daily Star.
Logging into the CCTV he then saw for himself the puzzled officers.
With the club having shut with much of the rest of the country earlier this month as the epidemic continues to spread, it has been showing archive footage online instead.
Saturday's clips had come from a show recorded on March 7 and Paul said it was advertised on Facebook "quite clearly".
"We record all of our shows, so we have a massive archive," said the 33-year-old.
“We all need a laugh in these difficult times and even if we can’t be open we’ve got quality jokes that can cheer someone up," he continued.
Paul went on to say the club is trying to raise funds for the comedians who regularly perform as "they're all out of a job now that we are on lockdown".
"But about five minutes before the show ended we got a call from the shop next door telling us police had just surrounded the club.
"They must have been baffled."
However, Paul holds no grudges and said the police's actions were "fair play" and they were "only trying to keep people safe".
"But it’s biggest laugh we’ve had this year," he added.
A concerned viewer failed to read that the show, headlined by comic Paul Smith, was pre-recorded and rang the police.
CCTV cameras captured one of the officers whipping out his phone to watch the live stream while others looked confused.
Dad-of-one Paul said: “It’s just funny to watch the video.
“There are so many of them and you can see them pop up one by one and have a puzzled body language.
“Only thing missing from this bit is the Benny Hill theme song.”
A Merseyside Police spokesman said: “Our officers responded to a report from a member of the public concerned that a comedy club was open.
"To verify this they attended the club and found it closed.”
