BANK CLERKS in upstate New York had a strange brush with science fiction yesterday when a man robbed their bank… dressed as Darth Vader.

It’s not just any old Darth Vader, though – it’s a special loungewear edition of Darth Vader, who was seen wearing camouflage pants underneath a blue cape.

Though police were called to the scene immediately, The Force must have been with the oddball criminal: the 6’2″ Star Wars baddie made away with an undisclosed amount of cash but was last seen fleeing the scene through a nearby car park.

Strange and all as a movie-themed robbery is, it’s not even the first odd one in the state this week – on Monday, a man robbed a NYC bank with a bouquet of flowers in one hand.

Elsewhere in the United States, an unemployed woman robbed an McDonald’s outlet in Oklahoma with a girdle wrapped around her head.

51-year-old Sharon Lain admitted she was desperate for money when she made off with the contents of the till in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

Police investigating her recovered the underwear – a pair of figure-hugging ‘Spanx‘ – as well as a significant quantity of illegal drugs.

Other American cops are still on the lookout for a woman who robbed several retail outlets while wearing a Catwoman mask.