10 July 2007: Police on the scent

German police received a call from a man's neighbours who were worried about him.

The shutters of the apartment had been closed for more than a week, the post-box was filled with uncollected mail, and there was a nasty smell seeping out onto the staircase.

Fearing the worst they broke into a darkened flat, expecting to find a dead body, but instead of a corpse they found the tenant asleep but definitely alive.

They quickly established that the obnoxious odour was caused by a combination of the large pile of unwashed clothes and the man's terribly smelly feet.