420mph Cabbie caught speeding in South Wales

KAWASAKI'S ZZR-1400 is a monstrous bike that can easily pull to its limited 186mph but for those who want that little bit more, you might want to try getting yourself a taxi.

Speed cameras have been called into question after the revelation that a taxi driver has been 'caught' speeding at 420mph. However, the owner, Tom Matthews from Newport in South Wales is not sure how he managed to achieve speeds over twice as fast as the world's fastest production motorcycle - in a 12-year-old diesel Vauxhall Cavalier.

The 38-year-old cabbie wasn't aware that he'd been flashed by a roadside camera until a penalty notice arrived on his doormat. The notice demanded the standard £60 fine we've all come to expect but it also informed him that he'd exceeded the 30mph speed limit by a staggering 390mph.

Mr Matthews told the Sun: "I drive an old Cavalier - not a jumbo jet. According to this, I've broken the land speed record."

He added: "There has been a printing error. If they insist I was going that fast I should be a Grand Prix driver - I'm wasted in taxis."

Convinced that something is amiss he plans to challenge the speeding charge, which has also seen him dealt three penalty points " putting him just nine points away from losing his licence and job.

Mid and South Wales Safety Camera Partnership acknowledges that there is an error, but claim an employee is at fault, not their roadside speeding equipment.

Partnership manager Phil Davies told the Metro: "Due to the size of Mid and South Wales Safety Camera Partnership, we process a large number of offences every year. This error was made by one of our employees and is an extremely rare occurrence. It was not an error in speed recording equipment. We are grateful to Mr Matthews for bringing this to our attention and would like to apologise for any inconvenience caused.

Mr Matthews' supposed speed even beats that achieved by Top Gear presenter Richard Hammond before his dramatic crash in September 2006.

The presenter had been driving the jet powered Vampire car, which is capable of doing speeds of over 300mph. Driven by Collin Fallows, the car had held the British land speed record, reaching 300.3mph in July 2000. The BBC has denied that Hammond, affectionately known as Hamster, was attempting to beat the record and maintained he crashed at speeds in the low two-hundreds. However, Jeremy Clarkson has claimed Hammond hit 315mph on one run.

If you're riding your ZZR-1400, or even driving your 12-year-old Cavalier, you'd be best advised to steer clear of South Wales.