The border terrier, Chipie, who belongs to a family in the town of Appoigny, Yonne, escaped from their garden at the end of September, according to local newspaper l'Yonne républicaine.

Chipie was picked up by the kind-hearted trucker on a motorway 40km from her home, six days after she went missing. Presuming she had been abandoned, the driver took her with him as he travelled the length of France – to Reims, Troyes, Lyon and Marseilles.

After a week, the driver decided to hand over the dog to a vet in Besançon, who managed to track down the family and get Chipie back to her rightful owners.

Daniel Trabach, a spokesperson for Yonne council, said: “The driver thought he would keep Chipie if no one came to find her, he found that she was very well-behaved in his truck.”