Most children aren't exactly keen to have a dentist poking around their mouth, but this French boy has set a record for the most elaborate plan to avoid the bright light and reclining chair.

When police found a 12 year-old boy in the French town of St Gervais, he explained that he had just escaped from a kidnapper who had abducted him while he was walking to a dental appointment in nearby Bagnols.

The Local reports that officers took the matter seriously, examining his detailed descriptions of the man's appearance - in his 30s, muscular, facial scarring - his car, and the details of the kidnapping.

But after a month of investigation, police came to the conclusion that the entire story was a hoax. After becoming suspicious from a lack of CCTV evidence, officers eventually got the boy to admit that he faked the whole thing out of fear of going to the dentist.