‘Pastafarian’ man wins right to wear pasta strainer in driving licence photo

In today"s day and age, we all need to celebrate the small victories, no matter how weird they may be.

That"s why we should all congratulate the Austrian man who has won the right to wear a pasta strainer on his head in his driving licence photo.

Niko Alm decided he wanted to wear the plastic colander after reading that headgear was allowed in official photos only for religious reasons.

Mr Alm claims to be a Pastafarian, which is someone who belongs to the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, a tongue-in-cheek atheist church based in the US.

He submitted the application to wear the pasta strainer on his head three years ago, citing his religious freedom to be allowed to do so.

Mr Alm"s official driving licence (Picture: Niko Alm/REX)

Niko Alm claims to belong to atheist organisation the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster (Picture: Niko Alm/REX)

Writing on his blog, My Alm said: ‘My headwear has now been recognised by the Republic of Austria."

However Austian police denied the bizarre request was granted on religious grounds.

A police spokesperson in Vienna said: ‘The photo was not approved on religious grounds. The only criterion for photos in driving licence applications is that the whole face must be visible."

He also told Austrian news agency APA that his next step will be applying for Pastafarianism to become an officially recognised religion in Austria