German police responding to a complaint about a noisy party after midnight knocked on the door only to have the noisy guests burst into applause after opening the door and seeing the officers there.

Applauding the police were the birthday girl, who had just turned 30, and her female guests who, it turned out, had all mistakenly thought the police officers were a surprise birthday gift - male strippers in costume.

It took the women a while to realize that no one had ordered strippers as a surprise gift and that the two men standing at the door really were with the Berlin police.

However, the night ended on a happy note for the revelers who weren't ticketed for being too noisy.