Vienna police fine man €500 for 'massive intestinal wind'

Calmer times in another Vienna park

Breaking wind in public may be a social taboo, but it's not often that people face financial consequences for it.

But that was the case for one man in Austria, who was fined €500 (£448, $564) after doing so at police in Vienna earlier this month.

The city's police have defended the fine, saying it was for more than that.

"Of course no-one will be reported for accidentally 'letting one go' once," Vienna's police department said on Twitter.

Responding after a photo of the charge sheet - issued for "violating public decency" - was shared on social media, the police department said the suspect "had already behaved in a provocative and unco-operative manner" when he was approached by police in the early hours of 5 June.

He then rose from a park bench, "looked at the officers and apparently intentionally released a massive intestinal wind in the immediate vicinity of the officers".

And, as the suspect found to his own cost, members of the city's police force "prefer not to be farted at".