It is worth a staggering £400,000, does 0-62mph in a nippy 2.9 seconds and has an impressive top speed of 217mph, but the owner of a brightly coloured Lamborghini supercar won't be going anywhere in it for a while.

The car, which was towed away on Tuesday as part of a police crackdown on uninsured vehicles, was one of more than 11,500 vehicles that have been seized during 22 one-day operations that began in October of last year.

Thirty-seven people have been arrested as part of the operation dubbed 'Cubo' for offences ranging from robbery and drink-driving to driving without insurance.

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The Lamborghini Aventador, which has the Italian manufacturer's famous V12 engine - which generates 700HP - was towed away after officers stopped the vehicle because it was missing its front number plate. Police in east London subsequently found that the driver's policy did not sufficiently cover him to get behind the wheel.

This summer an impressive purple Aventador, which was reportedly a 'glow in the dark' model, was also seized by police after its owner was caught driving it uninsured and without a licence. Police at the time said they had also impounded Porsches, BMW X5s, and a Ferrari.

Police said the Ferrari had been crushed.

The influx of upmarket foreign marques to London was highlighted in a Channel Four documentary earlier this year called Millionaire Boy Racers. The programme showed the conflict between the young supercar driving millionaires and locals who claimed the noise of the vehicles was making their lives a misery.

Sultan Taylor, Chief Superintendent of Safer Transport Command (STC), said of Operation Cubo: "The STC works to keep the travelling public safe and part of our duty includes carrying out operations such as Cubo which help to keep uninsured and dangerous drivers off London's roads."