A rare Ferrari worth over £850,000 has been badly damaged in one of the UK's most expensive single-car crashes.

The driver of the Ferrari F50 - one of just 349 ever made - is thought to have lost control of the car after entering a dual-carriageway.

He ended up hitting a lamppost and badly damaging the rear of the iconic car.

The crash, on Wednesday morning, took place on the A43 near Brackley, which is on the Oxfordshire and Northamptonshire border.

An insurance company could now face the prospect of costly bill to repair the 1990s Ferrari, which was built to celebrate the car maker's 50th anniversary.

Values for the F50 have soared over the past two years and they are changing hands for upwards of £850,000.

It is thought to be the most valuable car to be involved in a crash since Rowan Atkinson badly damaged his McLaren F1 in 2011.

Seamus O'Brien, 49, from Leicester, was one of the first people to arrive at the scene of the crash.

He said: "I was driving on the A43 near Brackley and saw the Ferrari wrapped around the lamppost.

"There was a chap wearing a Ferrari T-shirt stood besides another chap and another car had put its hazard lights on to block the lane which was 50 yards off the westbound roundabout."

The Ferrari F50 was built as a halo car to celebrate the iconic Italian company's 50th anniversary.

Regarded by many as an F1 car for the road, the F50 is powered by a 4.7-litre V12 engine which develops a staggering 520bhp.

This gives the F50 a 0-60mph time of 3.6 seconds and a top speed of 202mph.

Just 349 of the supercars were built and the cars have become even more desirable in recent years.

A Police spokesman said: "We were called at 11.11am on Wednesday morning to reports a silver Ferrari was involved in a collision with a lamppost.

"The lamppost and the car were damaged, but there were no injuries."