Russian Eduard Alimov logged it home after his vehicle became damaged when it got stuck in a swamp, and he could not afford to pay for a tow truck.

With a friend he used a saw to cut three pieces of tree which he used one by one to wedge into place as a makeshift wheel - or sledge - on his return to St Petersburg.

Onlookers were aghast at the sight of him driving his Niva Chevrolet at speeds of up to 30 mph.

But the ploy worked and he avoided the attention of Russia's traffic police.

He twice replaced the lumps of birch tree which he used to scrape his way home.

To fix the log Eduard and his friend used a winch with a steel rope, attaching it to the bumper.

Then they stretched the rope under the body of the car and fixed the log onto the rear axle, the motoring equivalent of a walking stick.

'We did not have money for a tow truck, and we were cold and did not want to wait,' he said.

'My car got into a swamp - its engine picked up water and stopped working.

'We managed to bring it back to life but when we drove to the road the back wheels got jammed'.

After some DIY repairs he was 'still without one wheel' - - so the hit on the idea of the spare stump.

One by one, the logs became worn out but he made it back and now faces a 30,000 rouble repair bill - £300 - to get his SUV roadworthy again.

(dailymail.co.uk)