Dear bikers - get the duck out of our village

Furious locals in a tranquil English village called the police because they’d been invaded by bikers – despite the riders actually being there to race rubber ducks in aid of charity.

Sounds too surreal to be true, but The Guardian is among the national newspapers reporting how the annual rubber duck race across a river in Bourton-on-the-Water, Gloucestershire got locals hot under the collar.

Residents were angered by bikes parked on the picturesque village green and called in cops, who turned up and asked the riders to move their bikes.

The rubber duck race is organised by the local Spitfire MCC and last weekend’s event raised over £500 for the Midland Freewheelers, a volunteer service that uses bikes to move medical products including blood donations to where they’re most needed.

Police told The Guardian: “A number of motorbikes were parked on the village green, contravening a local bylaw protecting the site. An officer asked the riders to move their bikes, which they kindly did.”

An eyewitness told the newspaper: “It was like something out of the film Hot Fuzz.”

Spitfire MCC have posted a video of the ‘controversial’ event on YouTube, which you can see here.