Customised supercars belonging to wealthy Arab playboys

• Influx of Arab-owned supercars is becoming an annual event in upmarket areas of central and west London
• A £2million Bugatti was spotted parallel parked on yellow lines outside Bulgari Hotel in Knightsbridge
• Lamborghinis, Ferraris and McLarens were also seen at the exclusive hotel and The Dorchester in Mayfair
• Owners - many from Qatar, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia - are usually only here for several weeks during the summer
• The cars are flown over by Qatar airways, costing in excess of £20,000 for a return journey

They normally cause a stir when they rev their engines outside Harrods during the summer months.

But now expensive Arab-owned supercars - many of which have been expensively customised - have been spotted all over London's most upmarket streets, and their drivers don't think twice about parking on double yellow lines.

Lamborghinis, Ferraris and Bugattis are among the cars seen cruising around west and central London this summer as rich Qataris, Saudis, Emiratis and Kuwaitis move to Britain to escape the Middle East's baking mid-summer months. 

Among the supercars spotted include a £2.5million premium LaFerrari, £2million Bugatti Veyron and £700,000 McLaren seen parallel parked on double yellow lines outside five-star Bulgari Hotel in Knightsbridge last night.

Gary Tolson, sales manager at luxury car dealership, Tom Hartley, said: 'It is extremely unusual seeing four of the most expensive cars in the world all parked next to each other. Many of the supercars you see around central London at the moment have been modified with paint jobs costing anything up to £30,000. A lot of them have also been given different wheels.'

Supercars belonging to wealthy individuals from the Middle East have been taking all the best parking spots in London's upmarket postcodes. A £2million brown Bugatti, £700,000 McLaren, £2million LaFerrari and £300,000 Maybach were seen on double yellow lines outside BVLGARI hotel in Knightsbridge last night

Crowds gathered to look at the limited production plug-in hybrid McLaren P1 supercar outside BVLGARI. It is estimated to cost around £700,000, top speed 217mph

A £350,000 Rolls Royce Phantom, customised with a £30,000 chrome paint job and expensive wheels, was also seen outside The Dorchester in Mayfair.

Mr Tolson said: 'This one has been really pumped up with huge wheels and paintwork which would have cost thousands.'

It was parked next to a bright orange £300,000 Lamborghini Aventador and a £270,000 Rolls Royce Ghost.

The luxury cars are flown distances of around 3,000 miles in planes such as the Qatar Airways Airbus A330.

Owners, many of them from Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE and Kuwait, will happily pay a small fortune - in excess of £20,000 for a return journey.

Qatar Airways ships the luxury cars from Doha to Heathrow and the precious cargo can either be accommodated in a single row or in a side-by-side configuration.

The rich Arabs stay in the best hotels and empty their wallets in London's most expensive shops, but they also cause problems with their unique supercars. 

This £300,000 Rolls Royce Phantom has been customised with a £30,000 chrome paint job and wheels which could have cost up to £30,000

This luxury brown Bugatti Veyron would have cost around £2million in total, including its expensive Qatar number plate 77777

The number plate of this Bugatti would have cost at least £80,000. In the Middle East, the number plate is as important as the car and is an indicator of a wealthy lifestyle 

This £200,000 BMW Hanman-tuned car was seen on Park Lane (left) and a limited-edition Ford Mustang was spotted on Edgware road in central London

A gold and black Bugatti Veyron - which can sell for up to £1million - was also seen parked outside the prestigious Dorchester hotel

This garish Chevrolet was seen parked on Edgware Road in central London. It has been customised with an unusual paint job and expensive wheels

A £1million Bugatti parked outside Bulgari Hotel in Knightsbridge and a £300,000 Lamborghini Aventador parked outside the Dorchester in Mayfair

This gorgeous gold Ferrari, priced at around £200,000, was seen near Harrods in Knightsbridge last night. Supercars have been taking over central London