Dufraing has already had dealings with police on two occasions when he was stopped for speeding. During his show, he claimed the police of zone KLM are the stupidest in the country and gave the names and email addresses of two officers, inviting the audience to send a rude message on his behalf. A clip of the performance on YouTube has been viewed more than 3,000 times.

The zone chief, Commissioner Van der Jeught, who was not present, failed to see the funny side and wrote to the Sint-Theresia College in Kapelle-op-den-Bos, where Dufraing has a day job as a teacher. Dufraing’s comments, he alleged, called into question his suitability for a position in which he was considered a role model.

Now Dufraing has to answer to a complaint lodged by the commissioner on behalf of his zone and by the two inspectors who stopped him for speeding. Other comedians have leapt to his defence. The complaint was “a thinly-disguised form of censorship,” according to Alex Agnew. Commissioner Van der Jeught “has gone too far” said Youssef El Mousaoui. Others, including Raf Coppens and Nigel Williams, sent their support.