A man has been arrested in Italy who tried to obtain a driver's license by asking his cousin, who is very similar, to take a driving test instead, a police statement said.

Police said in a statement on Thursday that the Rome test agency's test committee was skeptical when a Ghanaian man came to test drive with an identity card but did not accurately resemble the picture.

The man in the picture looked like the person who came to test drive but his nose was slightly different and there was no mole, and therefore the test committee summoned the police to investigate.

During the interrogation, the man admitted that he had tried to pass the exam to replace his cousin, who had already failed a previous driving test and was afraid to fail again.

The two men were referred to prosecutors for attempted fraud, police said in a statement.