It turns out 18 years on the beat provides perfect fodder for stand-up. Or so Sergeant Alfie Moore reckons.

An officer in Scunthorpe, with Humberside police, he has taken an "adult gap year" to tour the country telling us why being a copper is funny.

Using the summer disturbances as a background, I Predicted A Riot gives a whistle-stop tour of protests and mass-scuffles throughout history.

Featuring everyone from the Romans to students, his set is peppered with witty and sometimes gritty observations on modern policing.

The 47-year-old says: "I love the excuses that criminals give. We were interviewing this lad after we found his blood on the window – the point of entry at a house he'd broken into.

"He said he heard a disturbance and must have cut his hand leaning in to shout 'Is everyone okay in this house?'. You've got to laugh.

"Once I was called out to a rather large lady who was trying to throw herself off a railway bridge.

"While we were waiting for the emergency services, I ended up clinging on to this woman for dear life. I ended up with a hernia."

It took only one gig to get Alfie hooked on comedy. He only saw his first show five years ago but within weeks had signed up to an open mic night.

A last-minute cancellation meant he was hurled on stage with just 24 hours to prepare.

"I blagged that I had plenty of material when I didn't have one joke – and took the day off to write the lot," he says.

Alfie started to carry two notebooks in his top pocket while on the beat, one for police business, and one for "comedy gold". It came thick and fast.

His show was written early last year, predicting that cities across our fine country would turn nasty as society's underclass took to the streets.

But in the meantime Alfie had been offered a place on ITV's Show Me The Funny and, with little holiday left to take, he shelved the tour in favour of appearing on the show.

The riots came and went – and Alfie said "I told you so" a lot – before revamping the show to include the latest scuffles.

I Predicted A Riot is at Kayal, Granby Street, Leicester, at 2pm on Sunday, February 12. Tickets cost £8 or £7 concessions. Call 08444 771000.