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Welcome to Alex Eckford's Weird World of Wheels.

Each week, we'll be bringing you the strangest motoring news from around the world.

Don't forget to come back every Friday for your new helping.

Got any stories, pictures or videos you think we should feature in the Weird World of Wheels? Send them to us at editorial@autotrader.co.uk.

This week:

I pity the fuel

What runs on no fuel? Cars from the 23rd Century? Santa's sleigh?

We can now add Paris Hilton's Bentley Continental GT to the list.

Apparently unaware of a car's need for petrol, the wealthy socialite came acropper in Beverly Hills after running out of fuel.

Rather than search for a solution to the problem the 25-year-old celebrity simply sat in her car a leafed through a photo album of her and her boyfriend Stavros Niarchos.

A member of the ever-present paparazzi eventually offered to help fetch some fuel, filled up Ms Hilton's car and sent her on her way.

Everybody's jaywalking

Why did the professor cross the road? The answer, it turns out, is to get seven bells knocked out of him by the Atlanta Police Force.

British professor Felipe Fernández-Armesto was visiting the US city when a slight misunderstanding over Georgia's criminal code led to him being pinned to the ground by five police officers and slung in a jail cell.

According to state laws, pedestrians must not "walk along an adjacent roadway where a sidewalk is provided." The visiting professor attempted to cross a road between two conference venues, disobeying the rules.

A police officer called after the professor, asking him to stop. After he failed to do so, the officer wrestled him to the ground and called for backup.

Professor Fernández-Armesto said: "I didn’t appreciate the gravity of the offence. And I didn't recognise him as a policeman. He was wearing… a bomber jacket, like a jerkin."

Professor Fernández-Armesto's wife said: "I suppose it's lucky he wasn't shot."

Gotta chew

Faulty brakes, dodgy wheel alignment, 600 decibel exhausts - daily fare for car mechanics.

Hamsters, less so.

When a family took their motor into a garage in Chelmsford, Essex to find out why it wouldn’t start, mechanics were surprised when they uncovered the real reason.

It turned out the family hamster, which had escaped from a cage in the boot days earlier, was tucking into the car's wiring.

The family's relief at finding the hamster alive and well was cut short by a £1,000 repair bill.

Weird pic of the week

A roof terrace is hard to top as an optional extra.

(Have you got a picture to top this? Send it to us at editorial@autotrader.co.uk)

Video: Lada display team

Motoring display teams - thrilling audiences the world over.

Ever wanted to see a Lada display team? Now's your chance.

Click the play button below to start the video.

Missed a previous edition of Weird World of Wheels? Take a look through the archive now.

Got any stories, pictures or videos you think we should feature in the Weird World of Wheels? Send them to us at editorial@autotrader.co.uk.