SINGAPORE - A man who made a false police report saying his car was stolen, after abandoning it to avoid being nabbed for drink driving, is being investigated by the police.

The 52-year-old had made a police report on Aug 16 saying his car, a Toyota Vios, had been stolen. He said it had been parked along Tampines Street 81.

However, after investigating, the police believe that he had instead abandoned his car along Seletar Aerospace Link Road while drunk.

The Straits Times understands that he did so after spotting some Singapore Civil Defence Force officers attending to an incident nearby. He was afraid he would be arrested for drink driving.

He then lodged a police report claiming that the car was stolen.

Investigations are ongoing.

If convicted of giving information he knows to be false to a public servant, the man can be jailed up to a year and/or fined up to $5,000.

Reports of people being investigated for lodging false police reports are common.

Earlier this month, the police said a 50-year-old man was being investigated after he said he was robbed of $280 when he was not.

Last month, a 37-year-old man was investigated for making a false report saying he was robbed of $799 by two men.

In June, a 30-year-old man who similarly made a police report saying his car was stolen was investigated by police.

He was believed to have been in a traffic accident while driving his car without a valid licence, and so made the report.

The police in their statement on Thursday reminded the public that police resources can be put to better use in dealing with real crimes and emergencies rather than investigating false reports or false information.

"Those who lodge false police reports or provide false information will face serious consequences under the law," said the police.