A Rolls Royce worth almost £250,000 has been dramatically hauled off a Mayfair street in a crackdown on luxury vehicle owners parking illegally.
The Saudi-registered supercar was towed after Westminster Council admitted the usual practice of issuing £160 fines was not deterring rich residents and visitors from parking badly.
Town hall chiefs said they have had enough after fed-up locals complained that well-heeled guests at the Chancery Rosewood hotel were routinely dumping their luxury vehicles on the pavement outside the former US Embassy site and brushing off penalty charge notices (PCN) as if they were pocket change.
The local authority dispatched a tow truck to scoop up the gleaming blue Rolls Royce and whisk it several streets away on Tuesday.
Other high-end motors were shifted after officials approached their owners.
Enforcing fines on globe-trotting drivers is difficult, the local authority said.
Westminster Council and Transport for London rely on private agencies to chase European offenders, but cars registered elsewhere are far harder to pin down.
A council spokesperson admitted “the usual approach of issuing PCNs have proven to be ineffective”.
He added: “The vehicles are foreign registered - the ones we photographed have Saudi numberplates - so the chances of recovering the costs are virtually nil.
“And the owners of the vehicles, which include Rolls Royce and Lamborghinis, are so wealthy that fines barely register.”
Max Sullivan, cabinet member for streets at Westminster Council, said: “Those on foot shouldn't have to run a gauntlet of illegally and selfishly parked supercars when trying to walk around Westminster.
“We will not tolerate dangerous pavement parking, whether it's a Lime bike or a Lamborghini.”
It is the latest crackdown on supercar owners in central London.
Kensington and Chelsea Council has deployed noise detecting cameras in a bid to deter inconsiderate drivers who rev their engines.
The town hall made the move in 2020 after receiving a flood of complaints from fed-up residents reporting loud Lamborghinis, McLarens and motorbikes tearing around the streets at night.
The local authority has previously said decibel levels recorded can reach 126dB on some summer nights in Knightsbridge – around the average level of a rock concert.
Drivers caught revving their sports cars too loudly and disturbing residents face fines of between £100 and £1,000.
