Young children are renowned for their inventive excuses to get out of a sticky situation.

And one ten-year-old Norwegian boy told police he was a dwarf who had forgotten his driving licence – after he drove his parents’ car into a snowy ditch.

The child, who lives in a town about 110 kilometres from Oslo, commandeered the vehicle sometime in the early hours of Wednesday morning and headed for his grandparents’ house about 60 kilometres away, local police said.

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He also loaded his 18-month-old sister into the car.

But just 10 kilometres into the journey, the child veered off the road and into he ditch. The vehicle was spotted by a snowplough driver, who alerted the police.

"The parents woke up and discovered that the children were missing and that someone had taken off with their car. They were pretty upset, as you can imagine," said Baard Christiansen, a spokesman for the Vest Oppland police district.

"The boy told the snowplough driver that he was a dwarf and that he had forgotten his driver's license at home.”

Police said no charges would be filed and the case was closed.

"We have talked to them, and I'm pretty sure they're going to pay very close attention both to their children and to their car keys in the future," Christiansen said.

The children were unharmed and the car was not damaged, police added.

Additional reporting by Reuters