A four-year-old boy stole his mother’s car while she slept and took it for a joy ride, before crashing into a pick-up truck.

The mother was fast asleep at her home in Garsnas, Sweden, when her son took her car keys and drove off.

He managed to drive for about a quarter of a mile, successfully making three right turns, before crashing into the truck.

The first his mother knew about the incident was when she was awoken by a local shopkeeper knocking at her door to bring her son home.

“When she explained that my son had been out driving the car I thought it was a terrible joke at first. I couldn’t believe it was true,” the mother told the local Ystads Allehanda newspaper.

“I have no idea how he managed, he’s never driven a car before,” she added.

“I had the car keys in my jacket pocket and it was hanging so high that I thought he couldn’t reach it. But he did. Don’t ask me how, I was asleep.”

A local police spokesman said officers would not be pressing charges – and were relieved that no one was hurt in the incident.

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