by Tom Webster and Vijay Pattni

This little Hamster screams for ice-cream - Top Gear's pint-sized presenter has been spotted in an ice-cream van.

Richard Hammond is currently filming for his new DVD and was spotted behind the wheel of a hover-craft and an ice-cream van by a lake in Essex.

And in true Top Gear fashion, the production team were busy trying to cross the old 'Super Softee' van with the hovercraft to make the world's first hovering ice-cream van.

Gallery: Hammond in a hovercraft

Richard enlisted the help of two experts from Lee-on-the-Solent's Hovercraft museum to help him build the bizarre machine.

The feature is not scheduled for an airing on Top Gear, but is being made for a special interactive DVD.

It is likely to be called Richard Hammond’s Top Gear Uncovered and will hit shops in mid-November.

Hammond has been filming for the past few months with the shoot taking him as far as Dubai. It follows Richard Hammond's Top Gear Stunt Challenge last year, and 2007s Top Gear Interactive Challenge.

But while this isn't on Top Gear, Hammond will go head-to-head against Clarkson: in the Christmas DVD sales.

Jeremy Clarkson is releasing his latest DVD in the run-up to Christmas, with our mole revealing it will likely be called Clarkson's Duels. It promises bigger and better stunts and challenges than ever before complete with all the explosions we've come to expect from the Top Gear motormouth.

We'll have more news as it happens so stay with Auto Trader for the latest.

Gallery: Top Gear exhibition at the National Motor Museum in Beaulieu