Novelty Automation is a true hidden gem in the back streets of Holborn, harbouring a whacky collection of homemade satirical arcade machines. The machines were created by engineer and cartoonist Tim Hunkin, who also runs ‘The Under the Pier Show’ in Southwold.

Here you’ll find a plethora of bizarre contraptions including a Chiropodist game featuring a woman resembling a mummy, a machine which lampoons the current epidemic of smart phone addiction, a personal nuclear reactor and you can even go on holiday from the comfort of your own armchair.

When I visited we opted for a relaxing game of ‘Divorce’, in which you can instigate terminating your disastrous ill-advised relationship by repeatedly winding a crank until one of you is victorious and claims the house and the settlement. You can also try out a machine called ‘Auto Frisk’, which fondles you with a pair of old rubber gloves before uncourteously blasting you in the nether regions.

It's off the scale of the peculiar and provides endless amounts of good old-fashioned fun!