Boy, 11, steals bus and picks up unsuspecting passengers in joy-ride around German city

Police found three people on board when they stopped the bus in Ingolstadt

At least three people boarded the bus (not pictured) in Ingolstadt (Getty Images)

An 11-year-old boy who stole a bus in Germany drove it around a city and even picked up unsuspecting passengers before being stopped by police.

The budding young bus driver found the keys to the vehicle and tracked it down at a depot in Ingolstadt, Bavaria, on Tuesday afternoon.

He proceeded to figure out how to get it moving and set out on a joy ride along major four-lane road, stopping to pick up waiting passengers on the way.

But alarmed passers-by swiftly noticed the schoolboy’s erratic driving and called police, who arrived to find three stunned people on board.

“Officers were astonished when the 11-year-old started telling them about his passion for buses,” the Donau Kurier reported.

“At three years old he already had an interest and often uses his free time to ride the city’s buses.”

Upper Bavaria Police said the boy found the keys several weeks ago and decided to keep them, discovering the private vehicle parked and empty following repairs.

“The boy was taken to a police station and handed over to his mother,” a spokesperson added.

“Fortunately, the bus ride went without causing major injury to the boy and other road users.

“The bus suffered minor body damage totalling approximately €1,000 on the right front side.”

Officials said the former school bus was parked and no longer in use when it was taken, although where the boy found the keys remained unclear.

As the child is under 14, he is below the age of criminal responsibility in Germany and cannot be prosecuted.

But he will have to wait a long time to realise his dream – bus drivers cannot be licensed in the country before the age of 21.