GARDAÍ ARE INVESTIGATING after an ice cream van crashed through the front doors of a church in Kerry yesterday.

The incident happened at St John’s Church on Castle Street in Tralee at around 9pm.

Gardaí spotted the vehicle driving erratically and gave chase when it did not pull in when instructed.

The driver entered church grounds after smashing through a steel gate. The ice cream van then crashed through the front doors of St John’s Church.

Local councillor Sam Locke said: “Gardaí tried to apprehend the driver and gave chase. He went through the steel gates, they’d be proper steel gates and bolted in. Then he crashed in through the doors of the church. Now, these doors are three inches thick and are double bolted so you’d imagine he’d have to be going a fair speed to get through it.

“I understand a lot of damage was done to the church and it’ll cause a good amount of money to fix it. But the main thing is nobody was injured in the incident.”

One man has been arrested in relation to the incident.