The poll of 4,000 people, which was specially commissioned by UKTV Gold to celebrate the legal drama, Shark, asked the public to select the most ridiculous British and foreign laws still in existence from a shortlist.

Topping the list for UK laws, a whopping 27% of Brits found it ridiculous that it's illegal to die in the Houses of Parliament.

Others included the fact that it's an act of treason to place a postage stamp bearing the image of British Monarch upside down and in Liverpool it is a notion that it is illegal for a woman to be topless in public except as a clerk in a tropical fish store.

Some of the British laws that didn't make the top ten include: it is illegal for cabbies to carry rabid dogs or corpses, Londoners are not allowed to keep a pigsty in front of their homes and a licence is required to keep a lunatic.

Meanwhile those surveyed deemed international laws just as ludicrous as British ones.

Respondents voted the fact that in Ohio it's against state law to get a fish drunk, into top place.

In second place is the Indonesian law which states that the penalty for masturbation is decapitation.

The top 10 most ridiculous British laws of all time

1: It is illegal to die in the Houses of Parliament – 27%

2: It is an act of treason to place a postage stamp bearing the British Monarch upside down – 7%

3: In Liverpool, it is illegal for a woman to be topless in public except as a clerk in a tropical fish store – 6%

4: Mince pies cannot be eaten on Christmas Day – 5%

5: In Scotland, if someone knocks on your door and requires the use of your toilet, you must let them enter – 4%

6: In the UK a pregnant woman can legally relieve herself anywhere she wants even, if she so requests, in a policeman's helmet – 4%

7: The head of any dead whale found on the British coast becomes the property of the King and the tail belongs to the Queen should she need the bones for her corset – 3.5%

8: Under the UK's Tax Avoidance Schemes Regulations 2006, it is illegal not to tell the taxman anything you don't want him to know, though you don't have to tell him anything you don't mind him knowing – 3%

9: It is illegal to enter the Houses of Parliament in a suit of armour – 3%

10: In the city of York it is legal to murder a Scotsman within the ancient city walls, but only if he is carrying a bow and arrow – 2%


The top 10 most ridiculous foreign laws of all time

1: In Ohio, it is against state law to get a fish drunk – 9%

2: In Indonesia, the penalty for masturbation is decapitation – 8%

3: In Bahrain, a male doctor may legally examine a women's genitals but it forbidden from looking directly at them during the examination; he may only see their reflection in a mirror – 7%

4: In Switzerland, a man may not relieve himself while standing up after 10pm – 6%

5: In Alabama, it is illegal for a driver to be blindfolded while driving a vehicle – 6%

6: In Florida, unmarried women who parachute on Sundays can be jailed – 6%

7: In Vermont, women must obtain written permission from their husbands to wear false teeth – 6%

8: In Milan, there is a law that requires citizens to smile at all times except for those at funerals or visiting hospitals – 5%

9: In Japan, there is no age of consent – 5%

10: In France, it is illegal to name a pig Napoleon – 4%