A peckish donkey caused thousands of euros worth of damage and landed his owner in court after confusing an orange-coloured supercar for a carrot, a German court has heard.

The donkey’s owner was ordered to pay €5,800 (£5,000) in compensation to the driver of the pricy McLaren sports car after the animal chomped on the back of the vehicle.

Entrepreneur Markus Zahn left his volcano orange 650S Spider parked next to a paddock where the donkey named Fitus was grazing on September 15 last year, in the west-central German state of Hesse.

However, when the 49-year-old returned, he was shocked to see the hungry animal was causing damage to his €300,000 (£260k) sports car.