Game-for-a-laugh police make an arresting sight as they bust some moves on the beat by doing the Gangnam Style dance – in full uniform.
Five officers stunned shoppers in a busy town centre with their own spoof version of the smash hit cowboy-style routine.
Sergeant Gary Watts and four colleagues even persuaded locals in Falmouth, Cornwall, to join in as they filmed the arresting sight for a charity appeal.
The original Gangnam Style by Korean pop star Psy has become the first-ever video to notch up a BILLION hits on YouTube.
Since then it has been copied by legions of fans the world over, from prison inmates in the Philippines to a Norfolk teenager.
The latest police version will raise money for Joshua Wilson, a 12 year-old boy from Lancashire who has been left with complex physical needs following surgery on a brain tumour.
Sgt Watts had vowed to make his own Gangnam Style video if he reached 5,000 Twitter followers by the end of 2012 – little thinking it would happen.
But word spread and after reaching his target Sgt Watts kept his promise and recruited four colleagues.
The officers who appeared in the video were off duty but were granted permission to wear their uniforms.
The finished video was set to be uploaded to YouTube on Monday and members of the public will be invited to make donations for Joshua.
Sgt Watts said “Even if we raise £100 it’s brilliant.”
The idea for the madcap video began when someone contacted Sergeant Watts on Twitter asking if Josh could have a police helmet.
His bosses at Devon and Cornwall Police authorised the request and a pre-used helmet was sent to the thrilled youngster, who has severe neuromuscular disabilities.
Sgt Watts said: “This isn’t something we would normally do – we don’t give out any uniform for obvious reasons.
“However, I could see from pictures and tweets that Josh is mad about the emergency services and it would be a unique gift.”
In December Sgt Watts got into a Twitter conversation about Gangnam Style and was urged to make his own video by another user.
Soon the hashtags #GangnamPoliceman and #SargeDancesGangnam began to trend and the social media-savvy officer had thousands more followers.
Sgt Watts added: “In order to try and stop the calls for me to make a fool of myself in this way I said I would do the dance if I got another 1,000 followers before the end of the year.
“It had taken me two-and-a-half years to get 4,000 so I felt safe. How wrong I was.
“Once it dawned on me that this could really happen I wanted to make something good come from it.
“I suggested that if I could get approval then I would want to raise money and awareness for Josh.”
Sgt Watts persuaded colleagues PCs Barry Nicholas, Chris Vincent and PCSOs Ellie Grey and Chris Braddon to join him and they got together on January 2 to film the footage around Falmouth.
Their video begins with two of the film crew being arrested for making a “public nuisance” by producing a Gangnam Style video that has the whole town in stitches.
As a mock investigation gets into full swing the police can be seen aping Psy’s trademark moves at local landmarks, inside a police van and dancing toward bemused crooks.
The spoof ends with officers, criminals and members of the public pulling off a full-blown routine in the town centre.
Sgt Watts said: “Crowds of people came but not many were ready to dance.
“We persuaded a few, mainly small children, which was ideal because we had an excuse to simplify the dance steps, not that we had been getting them right all day anyway.
“A few clips of the filming have already made it out onto the internet and have been viewed around the world.
“People have already donated money to Josh’s fund including an anonymous donation of #100 at Falmouth police station.
“I hoped that we would raise at least #100 for Josh but much more than that has now been donated. This makes the humiliation much easier to bear.
“We had great fun doing the video and we hope it makes people smile – most importantly we hope we have gone some way to raising understanding for Josh’s situation and other brave children who are going through the same journey.”
The youngster’s family hope to raise #25,000 for a ceiling track hoist, special medical bath, building work and other basic equipment to adapt their home to his needs.
Police said the video was recorded, edited and produced at no cost by a local media firm and the officers completed it in their own time.
Wheelchair-bound Josh was diagnosed with a brain stem glioma tumour when he was aged about three-and-a-half.
Due to its location in his brain the youngster needed immediate surgery which left him in a coma for weeks and with severe disabilities and complex special needs.
He takes chemotherapy drugs to keep him alive and requires round the clock care.
His mum Dawn Fidler, 36, of Bury, Lancs, said: “You don’t normally see the police letting their hair down and having fun, so it’s just absolutely brilliant of them to get involved like this.
“Josh isn’t even from the same area of the country but it just took one kind officer who heard about his story to achieve all this.
“It just goes to show you the amazing power of the internet.”
Anyone wanting to donate to Joshua’s Journey fund can do so via: www.superjosh.co.uk
