SINGAPORE, Dec. 21 -- It was a late-night lapse made worse by geography.

A 36-year-old man was arrested in the early hours of Saturday after his van was found stationary along Paya Lebar Road - just 450 metres from Singapore's Traffic Police headquarters - with the driver apparently having nodded off inside.

The incident happened at about 12.25am, in what Singapore-based media organisation AsiaOne described as an awkwardly close brush with the authorities.

A member of the public alerted police after spotting the van stopped just before the junction of Ubi Avenue 2, sitting in the second leftmost lane.

By the time AsiaOne passed the scene at around 1.40am, the quiet stretch of road had filled up with enforcement vehicles: at least two ...