BERLIN — A German police officer who was fired for stealing cheddar cheese from an overturned truck while attending a traffic accident has lost his appeal against dismissal, a court ruled.

In his defence, he denied nibbling on any of the cheddar.

The police officer, who had been called to secure the scene, instead drove up to the side of the truck and ordered a rescue worker to hand him nine 20kg packages of cheese, which were worth around €554 (S$807) in total.

He took some of the parcels to his office, but the final whereabouts of the other parcels could not be conclusively clarified, the court in Koblenz said on July 2.

It was assumed that the police officer had kept "four parcels for himself or his friends and relatives", it added.

The police officer, who said he did not even like cheddar, had appealed against his dismissal, saying the cheese had been worth practically nothing as it had not been kept chilled and would have gone to waste.

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