Gardai in Co. Cork recently stopped a driver operating a defective vehicle, using a surprising substitute to the typical ignition key.

The vehicle was stopped by Gardai in Bandon; initially it was pulled over in the rural region due to the fact that it had no tax or Certificate of Road Worthiness (CRW).

However, upon closer inspection, it was discovered that the driver was using a spoon in place of an ignition key.

The van was subsequently seized and a court summons was issued, according to An Garda Siochana.

Noting the incident on social media, the An Garda Siochana Twitter page squeezed in plenty of cutlery-related puns to accompany its photograph of the dodgy van.

The account tweeted: “Bandon Gardai stopped this van at a fork in the road beacuse it had no tax / certificate of roadworthiness and a spoon for a ignition key.

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“Van was seized and a court date for the driver. You could cut the tension with a knife.”

CRW

Your CRW is proof that your vehicle met a set of basic safety requirements on the day it passed its test, according to the Road Safety Authority (RSA).

The CRW disc must be displayed on the windscreen of the vehicle or in the case of a goods trailer, as close as possible to the registration plate or where it can be easily inspected.