Experiments are performed in which a toroidal d.c. current is induced in a compact plasma torus by applying a linearly polarised high frequency field which is perpendicularly orientated to a static field along the torus axis. It is shown that a toroidal current can be induced, having the same magnitude as the high frequency current in the coils. Depending on the plasma density, the toroidal current may have the direction of the diamagnetic current or the opposite one.