Hamster steers a 15-tonne truck (Video)

A hamster steers a 15-tonne truck, and the direction of the tiny animal's running is enough to steer the lorry around tight bends.

It's a tough job for a grown man to do, but somehow this tiny hamster manages to steer a 15-tonne truck up a dangerous quarry road, capitalbay.com reports.

Volvo wanted to show off the lightweight steering on its latest generation of lorries, so they transformed the steering on a Volvo FMX into a giant hamster wheel and placed little Charlie inside.

With stunt driver Seon Rogers in the driver's seat, the two unlikely work partners set off on their way up the narrow and steep quarry in Los Tres Cunados in north-west Spain.

Seon, from Essex, used a tasty carrot to encourage six-month-old Charlie to run from one side of the wheel to the other.

The direction of the tiny animal's running was enough to steer the lorry around the tight bends.

Volvo use an electric motor to replaces the driver's muscle power, making it possible for 175 gram Charlie to steer the truck.

Despite a few hairy moments, which saw boulders crash off the side of the narrow road, Seon and Charlie completed the challenge.

Charlie, from Oxfordshire, had to undergo several weeks of training prior to the test.

In just a few days the video has been viewed online more than 670,000 times.

Animal trainer Grace Dickinson said: "Charlie's our star. He demonstrated that he has the best strength, confidence and attitude to learning new ideas."