Tight squeeze! Spanish police stops car with four tonnes of stolen oranges

Police was not expecting this when they opened the car door. Photo / Supplied

When Spanish police stopped a car for being driven erratically they made a fruity discovery: about four tonnes of stolen oranges were crammed inside the small vehicle.

When police opened one of the doors, an avalanche of oranges came tumbling out.

The four tonnes of stolen fruit are worth €1400 ($NZ2300) and were found in the car as well as in a truck.

A married couple, their adult son and two brothers were arrested after being stopped in Carmona, near Seville.

They are all due to appear in court for suspicion of theft.

The suspects told the police they had found the fruit by the roadside and that it was all for their personal consumption.

However, Spain has laws around the amount of fruit you can transport without paperwork and they did not have the required paperwork for four tonnes of fruit.

Theft of oranges is not uncommon in Spain, where farmers have even reportedly hired vigilantes to protect their orchards.

A spike in the price of oranges and orange juice is usually accompanied by a spike in orange thefts.