A Swedish man could face what is believed to be the world's largest speeding fine, which is expected to cost him £650,000.

The 37-year-old man was driving at two and a half times the speed limit in his £140,000 Mercedes when he was pulled over by traffic police in Switzerland.

They said he was travelling so fast it took him some distance to stop.

The motorist was travelling faster than any other person to be caught speeding in the country, according to prosecutors.

In Switzerland, speeding fines are calculated using a formula that takes into consideration on the income of the motorist and the severity of the speed.

The man is now facing the highest possible penalty of 300 days of fines at £2,166 a day – a total of £650,000.

"We have no record of anyone being caught travelling faster in the country," said a police spokesman.

The driver was captured travelling at close to 300kph (186mph) during at least one stage of his journey.

But he evaded being zapped by a number of radars simply because he was driving too fast and they were incapable of clocking speeds beyond 200kph (125mph).

He was caught by a speed camera on the A12 highway between Bern and Lausanne on Friday.

A new generation of radar machines finally clocked him travelling at close to 186mph.

Giving police a watertight explanation as to why he was travelling so fast, he said: "I think the speedo on the car, which is new, is faulty."

The police arrested the man, who has not been named, shortly afterward and released him after questioning.

Benoît Dumas, a police officer in the region where the six-litre Mercedes SLS was stopped, said: "He needed over half a kilometre of road to come to a halt."

• This article was amended on 13 August 2010. The original headline, Record speeding fine of £650,000 given to motorist in Switzerland, has been corrected.

