British police officer Rob Banks becomes unlikely Internet star for his ironic name

A British police officer has become an unlikely Internet star, all because of his ironic name.

Sharp-eyed Twitter users were tickled pink by officer Rob Banks, who appeared for a few seconds on British television network ITV's news bulletin on Thursday (Jan 17).

The Avon and Somerset police constable wore a serious expression as he spoke about how recent budget cuts have affected the police forces.

But his name hogged the headlines instead, after a screenshot of the television interview quickly found its way online.

Twitter user Seth Darby was among those who shared a screenshot on social media, and his tweet has since gone viral with over 17,000 retweets and 66,500 likes.

He wrote in the tweet: "And the award for policeman name of the year 2019 goes to ..."

[embed]https://twitter.com/sethdarby/status/1085997947316097024[/embed]

Several Twitter users responded by calling it the best moment of 2019 so far.

Another user, Jeremy Bowling, said: "I do hope it's short for Robin."

Mr Banks has since inspired social media users to share other hilarious and unfortunate names they have come across.

These include Cardinal Sin, who was a leader of the Catholic Church in Philippines, and a doctor specialising in faecal microbiology named Henry Butt.

Twitter user Mr Natural wrote: "I knew a man called Russell Sprout, went into politics, joined the green party."

[embed]https://twitter.com/Quasilocal/status/1086240996466282496[/embed]

This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.