The police commissioners, whose name is being withheld for legal reasons, stormed into the bank in Trier, in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate, wearing a mask and brandishing a gun. He demanded the branch manager hand over the cash and escaped in a car which was later found abandoned.

Although the cop-turned-robber tried to cover his tracks, even putting a different license plate on the getaway car, his colleagues were able to trace the car back to the commissioner's girlfriend who admitted she had leant it to him for the week.

The officer has confessed, saying he needed the money because of financial problems.

"We just can't believe it. We are trained to fight crime, not commit it," said a police spokesman. "But you can just never tell who the black sheep is among your colleagues."

"I'm surprised he used his girlfriend's car though," he added. "Even the dumbest thieves usually use stolen vehicles."