You’ve heard of the runaway bride – but the police in Leiden Noord have told the tale of a runaway groom.

The force revealed in a Facebook post that a local man missed his own wedding after speeding through a police check.

‘After a short but mad chase, the driver jumped out of his car and ran into the gardens of the Maria van Hogarijelaan,’ says the post. ‘After a short search, we found the man in a garden.’

He appeared to be under the influence of alcohol and not in possession of a valid driving license, the report continued, so he was arrested and taken to the police station.

A woman who had been left in the car was not found guilty of any punishable crime and allowed to go home. But when the man got to the police station, a sorrier tale emerged.

‘In the station, the arrested man got very emotional,’ police said in the post. ‘He told us that today he was supposed to marry the woman in the car. Unfortunately for the couple, they had to postpone their wedding.’

Police added: ‘We hope that if they do marry, their wedding won’t be as wild as the chase!’