Officers on patrol found the boy atop the 3.5-metre-tall (11.5-foot-tall) excavator after he had cleared the street in the town of Reinfeld and was driving back to the parking lot.

The child noticed the police car behind him and stopped immediately.

“He opened the door, got out and admitted immediately that he did not have

a driving licence,” the police report said.

When asked why he had begun ploughing, he said his father had complained about the state of the roads. He saw the key in the ignition of the vehicle and set off.

Police retrieved the key to the loader from the child and returned it, and the boy, to his mother.