BAREILLY, India, Dec. 23 (UPI) -- An Indian bus company said a joyriding monkey got behind the wheel of a bus while the driver was napping and crashed it into two parked buses.

The Uttar Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation said the bus driver was taking a nap while parked at a station in Bareilly about a half an hour before his scheduled departure when a monkey climbed into the bus and managed to start the engine.


The driver woke up and moved to chase the monkey away, but it shifted the bus into second gear while fleeing out the window.

"The driver managed to regain control of the bus but not before it hit two other parked buses," SK Sharma, a regional manager for the bus company, told the Times of India.

Sharma said the company has had monkey troubles in the past.

"Monkeys have become a regular menace at bus stations and workshops, where they often fiddle with vehicles undergoing repair. They have also damaged CCTV cameras at stations. Three years back we had taken the help of municipal authorities to get rid of them but they have returned," Sharma said.

Sharma said the bus company is in talks with local officials about hiring trappers to relocate the monkeys.