Well that was a close call and a waste of 5 hrs.

[Short]

a friend of mine did that in the pub with his astra. The key split in 2 in his pocket. The chip fell out, and he (unfortunately) though it was a bit of broken plastic.

Long story short, we ended up spending 4 hours searching through the pubs rubbish bins looking for said chip. Needless to say, after we eventually found it amongst ash tray remains and half eaten pub dinners, he sheepishly bought my beers for the next month!