It’s Christmas – it must be time for some slightly less serious press releases.

This contribution from the RAC reveals its all-time strangest call outs – including steamy windows (apparently 31% of patrols have arrived at a breakdown to find an ‘amorous couple’ in the car), rats in the dashboard and hungry alligators…

RAC Top Ten most unusual call-outs

1. A patrol called out to a car that wouldn’t start discovered the culprits; a family of rats living in the fuse box, who had chewed through all the wires.

2. One RAC member was mystified as to why they couldn’t unlock their car. On arrival, the patrol had to break it gently that they had the wrong car!

3. One member was trying to protect rather more than his car – he had broken down at the side of the road with over £80,000 in cash in his boot!

4. A patrol had to make it snappy when a van taking an alligator to a zoo broke down. Another speedy patrol helped restart a transporter taking a cheetah to a zoo before it was dinner time!

5. A hapless groom nearly didn’t marry his bride when he locked the wedding rings in his car – thankfully the RAC patrol saved the day just moments before the ceremony.

6. A £30,000 violin had to be rescued by a RAC patrol from a jammed seatbelt so that it’s musical maestro owner could get to a concert in time.

7. A kitten being driven to his new home panicked on arrival and escaped into the dashboard of the vehicle. An RAC patrol undertook the rescue, dismantling the entire dashboard, and recovering the kitten safely. Similar callouts have involved snakes, mice and hamsters.

8. On opening the back of a broken down van, a patrol was startled by 17 pairs of eyes staring back at him belonging to a cast of falcons.

9. One RAC patrol rescued a referee on his way to a crucial league football match, just hours before the game was due to kick off.

10. An RAC patrol rescued a police car, stuck up to its windows in mud having chased a runaway criminal across a ploughed field.

Overall, almost four in ten (39%) patrols have helped a motorist get to a life-changing event such as a wedding on time and one even reported helping to deliver a baby.

RAC patrol of the year Iain Vale commented: “Our patrols respond to around 2.7 million roadside assistance call-outs every year and this survey reveals the extend of the very odd and unusual nature of what sometimes awaits us.

“Whether it’s meeting members who keep their dogs ashes in an urn in the car, calls asking whether they can extend breakdown cover to their electric wheelchairs or a new kitten that’s panicked and hidden in the dashboard, RAC patrols aren’t afraid to get their hands dirty and really can be relied on to come to the rescue of members.”