More than 200 police officers in Germany have been sent home for bad behaviour, after throwing a wild party that included a couple having sex in public, men urinating in the open, and an officer performing a striptease and dancing with her gun.
The officers in question were on secondment from the Berlin police to help with security at next week's G20 summit in Hamburg which will bring Theresa May and Angela Merkel together with Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin.
More than 20,000 officers are being drafted into the city, with reserved coming from as far away as Austria and the Netherlands. But the Berlin contingent have been sent home in disgrace after staging a party that seems to have shocked their colleagues.
A spokesman for the Berlin police defended the officers, saying they were "only human".
And one of the officers involved in the party told Bild newspaper he didn't see what all the fuss was about, because it was just a "normal night for Berlin".
The German capital prides itself on being a party city. But the policeman's ball staged in Hamburg appears to have been a wild night even by Berlin standards.
The police reportedly got bored with the lack of television at their makeshift accommodation in converted shipping containers, and decided to stage their own entertainment.
What ensued reportedly included officers watching as two of their number had sex on top of a security fence, a female officer performing an exotic dance in her bathrobe, using her gun as a prop, and several male officers standing in a row and urinating together in public.
The music went on until 6.30am.
Colleagues from another German police force, North Rhine-Westphalia, shared the Berlin officers' accommodation but did not join the party.
When they came to complain about the noise at 3.30am, a fight reportedly ensued.
The night of excess may have played into the Berlin mythology, but it has come as something of an embarrassment to the city's police.
"Good behaviour is important for police officers," Thomas Neuendorf, a spokesman for the Berlin force, told German television.
"To put it plainly, you cannot party like crazy and f*** in public.
"We are talking about heavy drinking in their free time before an assignment and these are not 16-year-olds on a school trip. We do not have all the details yet but there are pictures and we have asked for statements. There will be consequences."
FAQ : G20
What is it? The G20 is made up of the world's leading industrialised and emerging economies. The Group of 20 accounts for 85 per cent of world GDP and two-thirds of its population. Much of the important business takes place on the sidelines and in informal meetings.
Which countries are in the G20? UK, US, Canada, Mexico, Germany, France, Italy. Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Australia, South Africa, South Korea, Japan, China, India, Brazil, Argentina and Russia are also part of the club. A representative from the EU is involved too.
Why isn't every country invited? Because it becomes more difficult to make decisions.
When did Britain last host a summit? 2009 when Gordon Brown was Prime Minister.
When did the meetings start? The first G20 summit of world leaders was held in Washington in 2008 hosted by President George W. Bush when countries coordinated a response to the global financial meltdown.
Is it effective? It has a mixed record. Many believe its failure to deliver on many past pledges raises questions about the credibility of future promises.