Four men posed as police in an attempt to intimidate a durian vendor into allowing them to eat the pungent fruit for free, a report said today.

The tradesman was not impressed, however, and refused to hand over any of the durian unless duly paid, the Utusan Malaysia newspaper reported.

Disgruntled, the four suspects then trailed the vendor to his home and attempted to "arrest" him on charges of drug trafficking,  reportedly assaulting him in the process.

A neighbour alerted the police, who detained three of the four suspects.

Valuable goods from the fruit seller's house were also found on them.

- dpa