A wanted man hoping to escape the police was discovered by officers hiding within the bottom of a sofa in just his underwear. Police turned up at an address in Potton, Bedfordshire, with a warrant to arrest the man and thought there was no one to be found in the property except a friendly dog.

However, they soon uncovered the man hiding in the base of a large sofa during the search on October 11. While searching the property, they overturned a large sofa to find the man hiding in its base in nothing but his underwear.

One officer declared: “Oh look, he’s hiding in the sofa. Out you come.”

A force spokesperson said: “We’ve seen some things in our time, but we must say this is a first. This morning while executing a warrant in Potton, we thought there was nothing more to be found in the property bar a friendly dog.

“Upon a closer search of the property, officers found the suspect tucked into the base of his sofa. We thought the man would be more comfortable tucked into bed, so he’ll be spending the next few hours in a custody cell – little less of a squeeze.”

Bedfordshire Police said it could not give any more details for “operational reasons”.