Drunk man faces eight years in prison for invading Polish town in Russian tank

Police called as 40-ton vehicle tears through streets of Pajęczno in central Poland

The 60-year-old, 40-ton vehicle belongs to the Polish military (Lodzka Policja/Twitter)

A man has been arrested after taking a Second World War Soviet tank for a joyride around a town in Poland.

The 49-year-old was apparently responsible for loading the 40-ton vehicle onto a transporter lorry, but during the process, the ramp broke, so instead, he drove it into the streets of Pajęczno – a town in the centre of the country.

The T55 tank, which is at least 60 years old, is the property of the Polish military, but to residents of the town it appeared more of a threat than a museum piece so they quickly called the police, local news outlet Twoje Pajęczno reports.

When officers arrived they found the tank parked on the road and the man standing next to it, who they found to be drunk and was in any case not insured to drive the vehicle.

By 5am the tank, which apparently would not start again, was removed by police, and the man was taken into custody for questioning.

The paper said drink driving can be punished by up to two years imprisonment, while “for bringing direct danger of catastrophe to land, water or air traffic”, a penalty of up to eight years may be imposed.

Last year, a man in Russia also stole a tank and was also heavily intoxicated during his rampage in which he crushed a car. The escapade ended when he ploughed the enormous snow-covered vehicle into a supermarket, before emerging and climbing through the rubble to try and steal a bottle of wine.

No injuries were reported and the man was later arrested.