Swedish driver could obtain a £656,000 speeding fine (CH)

A Swedish driver is facing a record-breaking £650,000 speeding fine after travelling at more than 186mph (290km/h) in Switzerland.

In Switzerland, speed tickets are worked out by taking the income of the motorist and the speed they were driving. According to prosecutors, he is now looking to face the maximum possible penalty of 300 days of fines at 3,600 CHF (£2,166) a day, totalling around £650,000.

The 37 year old man was behind the wheel of a £160,000 Mercedes SLS AMG on the A12 motorway between Bern and Lausanne on Friday. The man claimed that his speedometer was malfunctioning.

Local police spokesman Benoit Dumas said of the latest case that "nothing can justify a speed of 290km/h"

"It is not controllable. It must have taken 500m to stop". The driver, however, might consider himself lucky because Swiss prosecutors said he could well have been caught by many other speed cameras on the route – had he not been driving beyond the speed they operate. Older Swiss radar cameras do not function above 125mph.

The £650,000 fine is thought to be the worlds biggest. In January, a Ferrari driver was fined £182,000 after being caught driving at 85mph in a 50mph zone - again in Switzerland.