A HAMSTER has been named in honour of an AA patrolman who stepped in to rescue him. Bob Fuller was called after the distressed hamster became trapped beneath the gearbox console of a family's Renault Clio car.

The drama began when hairdresser Kathleen Barton bought the hamster as a gift for her daughter, Laura, 14, from a shop in Durham's Arnison Shopping Centre.

They put him in a cardboard box, which Laura had on her knee in the front passenger seat, and were driving home when the hamster gnawed his way out of the box.

He headed for the floor of the car and burrowed himself beneath the carpets and underneath the gearbox console.

A frantic Mrs Barton, from Belmont, Durham, stopped the car but was unable to find him. The only solution was to ring the AA.

Patrolman Mr Fuller, 63, from Cramlington, Northumberland, said: "It did not take long to retrieve the hamster. He was buried under the gearbox console, but he was busy chewing the hazard light wire.

"Had he bitten through that, then the car could have caught fire and there would certainly have been a fried hamster. Luckily I managed to find him in the nick of time.

"It is definitely the most unusual job I have performed in over 12 years with the AA."

The Bartons were so relieved they named their pet Bob.

Mr Fuller said: "I have heard of Bob the Builder, but Bob the Hamster is rather unusual."

Mrs Barton, who is married to Jeffery, a local government officer, and who has a son, Andrew, 17, said: "Thank goodness for Bob and the AA, I never thought my roadside membership would help with an escaped family pet."