Metropolitan Police officers seized 72 high-value vehicles worth an estimated £6 million during a three-day operation targeting dangerous and illegal driving across Hyde Park, Kensington and Chelsea, the force said.
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Specialist teams issued citations for a range of offences, including driving without insurance or a licence, driving while disqualified, carrying false documents and using fraudulent number plates. Officers also recovered several stolen vehicles and made eight arrests, among them a 22-year-old wanted on suspicion of actual bodily harm and criminal damage, and a 25-year-old later charged with possession of a Class B drug.
Among the cars removed from the road were Ferraris, Bentleys and two identical purple Lamborghinis flown into Britain for a summer visit by their owner, police and the Motor Insurers’ Bureau (MIB) said. One of the drivers had been in the country for just two hours and behind the wheel for 15 minutes before the vehicle was seized for lack of valid cover, according to the MIB.
Investigators said they also stopped a car over an insurance discrepancy that culminated in the arrest of four people on suspicion of immigration offences. In a separate stop, a 23-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of theft of a motor vehicle, dangerous driving, failing to stop for police, no insurance, no driving licence and drug driving. Three men, aged 26, 35 and 39, and a 23-year-old woman were arrested in total on suspicion of immigration offences.
Met commanders said the operation followed complaints from residents and businesses about late-night noise and antisocial driving by high-performance cars in central and west London. “These vehicles were causing a nuisance and, in some cases, being driven illegally,” said Special Chief Officer James Deller of the Met’s Special Constabulary.
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The force linked uninsured driving to wider criminality, including money laundering, drug running and the use of stolen vehicles. Andy Trotter of the MIB underscored the public-safety risk, noting that collisions involving uninsured motorists occur with troubling regularity and lead to serious injuries and fatalities each year.
Several seized vehicles had been shipped to the U.K. from overseas with drivers relying on home-country policies that did not extend to British roads, the MIB said. One motorist told BBC London his car was impounded after he failed to notify his insurer of a switch to a personalised registration, leaving no valid policy associated with the new plate.
Police said further enforcement is planned through the summer as officers continue to check documents, seize non-compliant vehicles and pursue drivers suspected of using luxury cars to mask criminal activity.
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