Vilnius mayor crushes car parked in cycle lane Published duration 2 August 2011

media caption The mayor has long urged city residents to take up cycling

The mayor of Lithuania's capital, Vilnius, has been filmed using an armoured vehicle to crush a car parked illegally in a cycle lane.

"That's what will happen if you park your car illegally," Mayor Arturas Zuokas, an avid cyclist, says in a clip posted on the Vilnius City website.

The apparent owner then arrives to see his wrecked Mercedes being towed.

The stunt was shot over the weekend for a popular Swedish TV series, 99 Things You Should Do Before You Die.

"Vilnius seemed friendly, modern and full of surprises - like the town mayor," the Vilnius City website quotes Swedish TV host Macka Edlund as saying.

In the video , Mr Zuokas ticks off the car's owner, sweeps up the broken glass from the wreckage and then hops on a bicycle and rides off - a scenario many cyclists would relish.

"You have to have a sense of humour in my line of work and I thought this would be a way of drawing attention to the fact that the city intends to be proactive in its fight against illegal parking," the mayor was quoted as saying by the Small World News Service.

The BBC's Russian Service reporter in Vilnius, Aushra Radzeviciute, says illegal parking is not a big problem in the city, but in its central streets it is strictly prohibited.

Mr Zuokas has long urged city resident to take up cycling, introducing various bicycle schemes and cycle lanes in his time in office.