Norbury's John Gladdon has won an out-of-court settlement from the Met Police after two 10ft plastic pigs, sporting police helmets, which he had attached to a yellow tank and left parked in a police station forecourt, were smashed to smithereens.

Mr Gladdon, whose home in St Oswald's Road, is notorious for the 15ft long, 800lb plastic fish on its roof, had parked his yellow tank, carrying the specially designed pigs and a giant hand giving a finger gesture, outside Brixton police station in August last year in protest against the 100 parking fines he had collected for the tank in six months.

"I was there to publicise the fact that my tank had unfairly received over 100 parking tickets," he said.

"Seventy-five of them were obtained in the borough of Croydon. I was getting a bit of hassle from the police and the council. I got the pigs made up especially."

Mr Gladdon, who has already painted his car to look like an LAPD police squad car and put a giant model of a policeman being spanked on the roof, says he was protesting against the 100 parking tickets he had been given within a six months period because the tank was too big to park in conventional parking bays outside his company at Valentia Place in Brixton.

The Norbury resident accepted nearly £3,000 in an out-of-court settlement at the Central London County Court.

A statement from the Met Police said: "We have settled out of court. The claim was settled without an admission of liability by the Met. It was not felt to be in the public interest to use further funds to defend the case."

Mr Gladden claims not to have a problem with parking tickets since the stunt and police say the tank was a safety hazard that had to be removed.