Wealthy Sheikh flies his Lamborghini 6,500 miles from Qatar to London - for an oil check

The black and gold Murcielago LP640 left Qatar for Heathrow on Friday.

In Britain it cleared customs and was driven on the back of a lorry to specialist mechanics in the capital.

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The car - as driven by Batman in The Dark Knight - was returned to the Middle Eastern country on Monday.

On top of the £20,000 bill for transporting the Lamborghini, the owner would have paid £3,552 to have it serviced by an approved dealer.

The decision to fly the vehicle 3,250 miles to London provoked the ire of environmentalists today.

Jenny Evans, of pressure group Plane Stupid, said: 'I am horrified ... It is another example of how rich people exploit and pollute the planet.'

But car enthusiast David Price, of Lamborghini Club UK, insisted owners had every right to service their vehicles as they saw fit.

He told the Sun newspaper: 'Thankfully the age of excess in some areas continues.'

A spokeswoman for Lamborghini said that although the Italian brand has a network of authorised dealers around the globe, there was 'kudos' in having a car serviced in London.

'This sort of thing is not unheard of,' she added.