Four youths from Canberra, Australia pulled off a trick of breathtaking bravado in order to gain revenge on a mobile speed camera van operating in the area.

Three of the group approached the van and distracted the operator's attention by asking a series of questions about how the equipment worked and how many cars the operator could catch in a day.

Meanwhile, the fourth musketeer sneaked (or is it snook?) to the front of the van and unscrewed its number plate. After bidding the van operator good-bye, the friends returned home, fixed the number plate to their car and drove through the camera's radar at high speed - 17 times.

As a result, the automated billing system issued 17 speeding tickets to itself.