Police sealed off a busy main road and called out the fire brigade and negotiators to talk to Dieter Holmblutter, 30, who was on the roof of a five storey building in Saarbruecken.
But the roofer was so busy talking on the phone to his girlfriend he failed to notice the commotion below until she asked him what the sirens were for.
Once the mistake was realised, emergency services left the roofer to finish preparing his estimate.
But officials say he will be presented with the bill for wasting their time - reported to be several thousand pounds.
Sorry, would you mind repeating that - officials say he will be presented with the bill for wasting their time - HE wasted THEIR time. WHO was it called out the fire brigade and negotiators? Certainly not Dieter Holmblutter.
