The Central Council of Muslims in Germany condemned the group. “These few teen yobs do not speak in our name,” said Ayman Mazyek, its chairman

Eleven self-styled “Sharia police” who patrolled the streets of a German town to dissuade people from drinking are facing charges of unlawful assembly and misuse of uniforms.

The men donned fluorescent orange jackets with Sharia Police printed on the back and confronted drinkers after declaring the area around Wuppertal railway station to be a “Sharia-controlled zone”.

Their ringleader, a German convert to Islam, said on his website that the patrols were a stunt to raise awareness of Sharia as well as the decadence of alcohol, gambling and smoking.

Similar patrols have taken place in Britain, notably in Brick Lane in Whitechapel last December when business owners were warned that they faced 40 lashes if they sold alcohol.

The Central Council of Muslims in Germany condemned