Sometimes things are not quite what they seem…

Terrified diners jumped for their lives as a car driven by a man with a gun smashed through a plate glass window of an Italian restaurant in Bourne on Friday evening, according to reports.

Then, as customers watched in horror, the car was smashed through the window a second time.

Armed police raced to North Street, Bourne responding to emergency calls from the public.

The driver was arrested at the scene.

But it was quickly established there never was a gun. So the armed officers were stood down, leaving local officers to investigate.

It turns out the 39-year-old Bourne man had simply been trying to reverse out of a tight car parking space when he slipped and accidentally drove into the front of the restaurant.

There’s no suggestion either in the updated police statement that the car was driven into the restaurant a second time.

The police statement goes:

It was established that the owner of the restuarant did not want to make a complaint against the individual as he did not believe it was a deliberate act.
Furthermore there were no patrons of the restuarant in the area where the window smashed, and despite them being very shocked by the incident, no-one was injured and therefore also did not wish to provide statements to ourselves.

Police say the man could have been released without any action. However, the investigating officers deemed that his actions were still reckless and therefore, after a night in the cells, issued him with an caution and sent him home.

Explaining it to the police is one thing. I wouldn't presume to guess how the hapless driver explained it all to his wife!