A man has been arrested after a vehicle drove into a church in Tralee, Co Kerry on Thursday night.

The ice-cream van was driven through the locked gates leading into St John's Church on Castle Street.

It then went through the front doors and the inside porch doors, causing considerable damage.

Both sets of doors have been closed to the public.

Fr Francis Nolan of St John's Parish is confident this will be restored to normal as soon as possible.

No one was injured in the incident, and there was no one in the church - which was locked at the time.

The man left the scene and was arrested under the Mental Health Act a short time later.

An intimation firearm was also recovered.

Gardaí are investigating the incident.

St John's Catholic Church, which was completed in 1861, is one of Tralee's best-known landmarks and is adjacent to the town park.

Fr Nolan says they are very shocked by the incident, but glad that nobody has been hurt.