Traffic cops have apologised after wrongly seizing a £200,000 Ferrari and posting images on social media shaming the driver.

Businessman Dean Livesey, 31, was cruising in his 200mph Ferrari 488 on Tuesday when Lancashire Police officers pulled him over after seeing there was no front number plate and determining it was uninsured.

Despite the motorist ringing his insurers to confirm the motor was registered to be on the road, the seizure went ahead and cops hauled it off.

Mr Livesey has now received an apology from the force after showing them a letter from insurance company NFU Mutual saying there was an "administration error".

But not before the officer took to Twitter to post about the incident including photos of the Ferrari and the hashtag '#StraightToCourt'.

Mr Livesey, who runs an energy firm near Burnley, wants a personal apology from the red-faced officer, who has since deleted the tweet.

He said: "It was a complete waste of everybody's time and a bit embarrassing.

"I have made an official complaint. I admit the lack of a front number plate, that was my fault, but I wasn't booked for that.

"The sergeant refused to speak to NFU Mutual. He was overwhelmed by the nature of the car he had just stopped.

"He was being over-zealous, it was premature and absolutely unjustified to put this on Twitter.

"I would have been daft to leave a Ferrari uninsured. I like my cars and I am very careful about these things.

"An apology from the police is all very well, but I would like a personal one from the officer concerned."

Mr Livesey added NFU Mutual have reimbursed him the £150 he had to pay to get his Ferrari back.

A police spokesman said: "We tweeted about the seizure of a Ferrari 488 due to a number plate offence and no insurance.

"It's since come to light it was insured but wasn’t on the database due to an insurance company error.

"We're happy to clarify this and apologise for any issues caused."

An NFU Mutual spokesman said: "This was the result of an unfortunate administrative error on our part and for that we wholeheartedly apologise."