Self-professed “massive legend” Lee Nelson got himself into more trouble than he had bargained for at a DVD signing stunt on Oxford Street last night when a fake shoplifting stunt went wrong.

The BBC Three comic character played by Simon Brodkin was being chased by a fake copper for shoplifting his own stand-up DVD, when a real community support officer intervened to help.

Traffic outside the HMV store in central London where the stunt took place stopped as the PCSO tried to physically detain the publicity hungry “thief”.

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Brodkin’s spokesperson said: "Somehow they ended up out on the pavement, where a real police community support officer got involved, thinking it was a theft taking place.”

"Shoppers were looking on and buses were stopping, it was all very dramatic. The community support officer brought him back into the store where it was explained that it hadn't been a real theft taking place."

The comedian, who takes his cue from other comedic television personalities Ali G and Vicky Pollard, plays a “happy-go-lucky chav” for BBC Three’s Lee Nelson’s Well Good Show. Last Friday he appeared on Children In Need highlighting the poverty-stricken plights of children on his estate who have “well old mobile phones” that “only sends texts and makes calls”.

After last night’s incident Brodkin tweeted from his @RealLeeNelson Twitter: “HMV signing's going well ----> #Lawyers4U#NoWinNoFee”