One of the most bizarre traffic accidents of the year has taken place in northern India, where a monkey stole and crashed a bus.

The monkey managed to start the engine of the bus while the driver was taking a nap - and even got it moving.

The bus hit two other vehicles parked in the garage in Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh state, before the driver was able to regain control.

Woupsie! The monkey climbed into the parked bus while the driver was asleep in the back, having left the key in the ignition, and managed to start the engine

The chicle had been parked at the local bus station between routes, and the conductor had stepped off for a break.

The driver, seizing an opportunity for a nap, and stretched out in the back, leaving the keys in the ignition.

As the driver dozed off, one of Bareilly's many street-monkeys climbed in and got behind the wheel.

Somehow, the simian managed to turn the key and start the engine, Times of India reports.

This woke the driver, who rushed to the front, but when he shoo-ed the monkey out of the way, the animal accidentally put the bus in second gear.

Monkey business! As the driver was shoo-ing it from the seat, the animal somehow put the bus in second gear, forcing bystanders to flee the moving vehicle as it crashed into two other buses

As the monkey jumped out of the bus, it started rolling, and bystanders were forced to jump out of the way.

'The driver managed to regain control of the bus but not before it hit two other parked buses,' local public transport manager SK Sharma told Times of India.

'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.