Three year old girl riding a motorbike stopped by police in Germany

Police said the ride on the diesel-powered bike was "life-threatening"

A man rides a pocket bike similar to the one ridden by the three-year-old girl in Germany. (Jamie McDonald/Getty Images for Laureus)

A three-year-old girl was caught riding a motorbike in southern Germany on Sunday afternoon.

The child was riding the pocket bike, which has a top speed of 70 km per hour, on a road in Tuttlingen, Baden-Württemberg, as her 22-year-old father instructed her nearby, The Local reported.

She was spotted by police, who seized the diesel-engine bike and charged her father with breaching insurance laws and licensing regulations.

Officers added that although it was only a small “pocket bike”, the speeds it could reach meant the ride was “life-threatening” to the girl.

In a statement released on Monday, police said: “It was an incident that would be more likely attributed to an adolescent or adult, not a three-year-old.”

It added that the girl “did not possess a valid driving licence” and added the bike was not suited to riding on the road.

“The father did not realize that a bad accident would have happened if the girl had just given it a little bit more throttle,” they said.