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A tough Chinese drill sergeant furious that a squad of new recruits had not cleaned the toilet to his standards got a shock when one of them squatted down and started LICKING the loo.

Sergeant Cai Peng had ordered the recruits to clean their dormitories and the bathroom, which included a porcelain hole in the floor that was used as a toilet.

He told them to make sure it was spotless when he returned but the strict military commander, from the Sichuan Vocational and Technical College of Communications in the city of Chengdu in Sichuan Province, was furious that it had not been done to his satisfaction.

He was shouting at the students, detailing the punishment they would have to do, when one of them spoke out.

The student, named Ho Liao, had apparently told the instructor: "Excuse me sir, but I don't agree and with your permission I would like to prove it."

(Image: CEN)

The young cadet then knelt down and licked the floor of the bathroom including the porcelain surround leading down to the sewer where soldiers squatted to do their business.

He then went to the dormitory and licked the floor there as well before standing back up to attention with a salute.

Many Chinese colleges and universities include military training that encourages strict discipline, including keeping a clean bedroom and sanitation, and the drill masters have a reputation for being severe.

Speaking afterwards, student Ho said: "He told us he had wanted the floor good enough to eat off. We felt we delivered that, and I just wanted to prove the point."

The squad were dismissed without punishment, with no further comment from the drill master.