"I was using my mobile phone to keep my ear warm while driving, officer."

As excuses go, we've heard better. We've tried better, in fact - we still have no idea why that policeman didn't believe we were speeding because our back seat was heavily pregnant.

But while our excuse fell on deaf ears, the German trucker who told a court that he was using his mobile phone as an ear warmer got off scot free.

Lorry driver Walter Klein told the court in Hamm: "I had an earache and it was being made worse because the cab had not heated up yet - it takes a while on a big rig. So I grabbed the phone that had been on charge and put it to my ear, and that was when I was stopped by police."

The court finally accepted Klein's claim after he produced an itemised phone bill showing he had not been using the phone when he was stopped by police.

Those crazy German truckers.