Hard-up German police buy petrol in Poland

ANANOVA -- Hard-up police in Eastern Germany are dodging taxes by buying their petrol in Poland.

Police spokesman Detlef Lueben said officers in the Oder district of Frankfurt took the step because of rising petrol prices.

One in five patrol cars gets its petrol from a Polish filling station, Lueben confirmed.

Compared to German prices, a litre of petrol costs about 20p less in Poland.

But the move doesn't just save money, it also means police are avoiding paying a special German environmental tax on fuel.

A spokesperson for the mineral oil trading association said a body like the police shouldn't be dodging taxes, the Berliner Kurier reports.