A London woman used her own one-year-old infant to jump start her Ford Focus after the voracious rugrat ate the coded radio transponder from the car's keys, the Telegraph reports.

Mum Amanda Webster, 34, called in the RAC when the car refused to start during a shopping trip. Patrolman Keith Scott was initially baffled until he realised that part of the Focus's key was missing - namely the small coded security chip device without which the vehicle would remain resolutely immobilised.

The finger of suspicion quickly pointed at little Oscar Webster, who had been playing with the keys shortly before. Mercifully, just when a major surgical procedure looked inevitable for the miscreant toddler, Mr Scott had a flash of inspiration.

By pressing the unfortunate Oscar hard against the steering wheel while turning the key, Mrs Webster sucessfully brought the Focus back to life. As for the transponder, it was later recovered in a presumably hugely distasteful rescue operation. Both mother and son are reported well. ®