A British driver who was twice clocked doing almost double the speed limit within minutes has been seized by police for trying to dodge a fine by claiming his car had been stolen.

The driver – who had been snapped twice on speed cameras on Switzerland’s A1 motorway – first faked a road crash and ran off to make it look as if his car had been stolen.

Then the following morning, he called police in Vaud Canton, western Switzerland, to report the vehicle stolen so that when it was found, cops would assume the thieves had been the ones speeding.

But police realised he was lying when they checked the speed camera images of the car and quickly identified the owner as the person that had been driving at the time.

He had been caught doing 200kph (124mph) in an area with a speed limit of 120 kph (74.5 mph) and, just 13 minutes later, he was caught driving 176kph (109 mph) in an area with speed limit of 100 kph (62mph) on Tuesday, 7th February.

Vaud Cantonal Police said in a statement obtained by Newsflash: “The next day, the investigations carried out by the investigators of the Radar Bureau made it possible to identify the probable author of these excesses – an English national passing through.”

The driver – not named in local media – was quizzed by detectives in the city of Lausanne after being arrested.

Now public prosecutors have initiated a criminal investigation.

Vaud Cantonal police said: “As for his vehicle, out of order, it was kept at his disposal pending his repatriation to England.”