A computer crash at the Transport Control Department left people unable to register vehicles or receive new licences yesterday morning.

Some of the Government department's PCs were going on and off line on Monday afternoon and some dropped off yesterday morning, creating a backlog and meaning members of the public looking to renew vehicle licences having to be turned away and told to come back in the afternoon.

"These sort of things make life more difficult than it needs to be," said TCD director Kevin Monkman last night.

"It meant we were unable to deal with new and renewed vehicle licences and drivers' licences. Some people were asked to leave their documents with us and asked to come back later in the day to pick them up. Although we don't foresee this sort of thing happening again, it perhaps serves as a reminder that you know what can come up and people should renew their licences as early as possible.

"People have three months to do this and leaving it to the last day can sometimes cause problem."

He admitted that although the TCD staff had removed any backlog by staying a little later last night, the department was likely to be a "little busier" today.

The TCD computers are linked to Government's network and the crash was blamed on a "switch problem".