Ross Noble declared war on neighbour with his private tank

'Have I Got News For You' star Ross Noble once pointed a tank at his neighbour’s house in a dispute over a garden fence.

The 46-year-old comedian, at one time, owned an ex-British Army tank and he would drive it for fun on his land at his Kent home, as well as show it off at military shows.

When Ross’ new neighbour decided to question whether he was encroaching on his land with his fence, the stand-up comic decided to declare war and point the tank’s gun turret at the man’s house much to his wife’s embarrassment.

Speaking on the 'Fuelling Around' podcast, he said: “I bought an ex-British army tank, just because I was living in Kent at the time and they’ve got that War and Peace Show down there, and people with military vehicles are asked to turn up.

“I had an argument with the bloke who bought the house next door. He was a property developer and he was a bit of a d***, and he was arguing over where the fence line was and all that stuff. So, I just pointed the tank at his house. My wife just went, ‘Have you pointed the tank at his house?’ I went, ‘Do you think that comes across as a bit passive aggressive?’ She went, ‘It’s not passive aggressive, it’s the most aggressive thing you can do! You’ve literally declared war on the guy.’"

Ross – who is a keen biker and off-road racer – eventually came to accept that a tank was perhaps an extreme vehicle to own when his daughter went to nursery and told her teachers that her grandmother drove the military vehicle when she came to stay with them.

The funnyman – who now lives in Australia in the Mornington Peninsula south of Melbourne – recalled: “Everyone who came round, I’d say, ‘Do you want a ride on the tank?’ ‘Cause they’re dead easy to drive. My mum was down and I gave her a ride in the tank and I said, ‘No, have a go at driving it.’ And she was like, ‘Alight, OK.’ She gets in, and she’s only a little woman and she could barely see out of the hatch and she’s driving it around. Then my eldest daughter, she just started at play school and they’d gone in and they went, ‘Tell us about life at home, who is in your family?’ And she goes, ‘My grandma comes down and sees us and she was down here last weekend and she drives a tank.’ ‘Oh, she’s got some imagination, hasn’t she.’”