HAVE you ever had one to many at the pub or hoovered on a Sunday?

How about Sounding your horn because you are annoyed?

If you are guilty of any of the above you may be shocked to know you have in fact broken the law.

Here are 10 of the weird and whacky laws in the UK that can land you in a whole heap of trouble.

Attending parties dressed in police or army attire

Dorset Echo:

It’s illegal to impersonate a police officer or a soldier – even at a fancy-dress party and even on Halloween. According to the Seamen’s and Soldiers’ False Characters Act 1906, and the Police Act 1996, it’s illegal to pretend to be part of the armed forces or the police. If you are caught it could land you with a custodial sentence.

Being drunk in a pub

Dorset Echo:

Under Section 12 of the Licencing Act 1872, it specifies that ‘every person found drunk… on any licensed premised shall be liable to a penalty’. The current fine is £200 for breaking this law.

Having a pigsty at the front of your house

Dorset Echo:

Under the Town Police Clauses Act 1847, a person cannot keep a pigsty at the front of their property unless it is hidden from public view.

Misplacing a postage stamp

Dorset Echo:

Placing a postage stamp bearing the monarch's head upside down on an envelope is considered as act of treason.

Also, defacing or destroying anything bearing a likeness of the monarch is illegal.

This means that burning paper money, bending coins or tearing a postage stamp is against the law.

Handling salmon ‘suspiciously’

Dorset Echo:

Under the not so well-known Salmon Act of 1986, it’s illegal to handle salmon ‘under suspicious circumstances’.

Singing ‘Happy Birthday’ in a Public Place

Dorset Echo:

Despite being sung by billions of people around the world, ‘Happy Birthday’ is actually under copyright if used for commercial purposes.

Staff in restaurants often sing an alternative in order to avoid paying royalties. 

Sounding your horn because you are annoyed

Dorset Echo:

Even if a pedestrian or driver acts dangerously, sounding a horn aggressively because you are frustrated could land you with a fine.

It is also against the law to sound a horn whilst the vehicle is stationary or while in a built-up area between 11.30pm and 7.00am.

Driving without clearing the whole windscreen of ice

Dorset Echo:

During the winter months before you set off on your journey you need to remove the ice from the whole of your windscreen – not just your viewing area.

Failure to do is against the law. You can also be fined for failing to clear snow from the roof of your vehicle before you drive.

Vacuuming on Sundays

Dorset Echo:

If you decide to hoover after 8pm on a weekday, you could be counted as a nuisance neighbour.

Nuisance noise is one of the biggest causes of neighbour disputes and to combat this the law states you should keep loud and noisey activitys between the hours 8am and 8pm on weekdays.

At the weekend the timings are different with noise permitted between 8am and 1pm on a Saturday and on Sunday it is not permitted at all.

Paying with your phone at a drive-through

Dorset Echo:

If you lean over and pay with your phone at a drive-through, and you leave your car engine running and handbrake unlocked, you're technically using your phone whilst operating a car and that is illegal.