Driver held after fleeing checkpoint

As customs officers approached a driver for not having VRT on his imported car, the driver sped through a major multi-agency checkpoint in Co Cork, glancing off a garda and being pursued for five miles before being arrested.

The incident happened in Ballinhassig yesterday at one of two multi-agency checkpoints mounted in the county as part of Operation Thor.

The checkpoints also led to the arrest of a suspected drug-driver, seizure of two seriously defective lorries, and the impounding of some cars which did not have their VRT registered within the 30-day requirement.