Man rents McLaren supercar to impress girl - but crashes it and flees China for Africa to avoid liability

Worse, it turned out that as well as writing off the expensive car, he had lied about his driving licence, and as a result the insurance company refused to pay for the extensive damage caused to the vehicle, as can be seen in the video.

The incident took place in Guangzhou, in the Chinese Province of Guangdong, on September 7, with the man running off afterwards leaving the injured woman in the crashed car.

The rental car company that has filed a criminal complaint over the damage to the McLaren 720S said the vehicle was a write-off as a result of the customer's actions. They said that he had told them he did not intend to drive it, and only wanted to sit in it while in the car park using a "static display" contract for a photo shoot.

But once the woman climbed the vehicle next to him, he got carried away and drove it on the road without permission. The car was involved in a single-vehicle accident in a tunnel, resulting in severe damage and leaving the woman injured and apparently the man, although he still managed to flee before police arrived.

Following the incident, the customer went missing, and it later turned out that he had fled to Africa to avoid liability. Although it is often difficult for Chinese people to travel abroad, in general, there are several destinations in Africa, like the Seychelles, Mauritius and Tunisia, that offer visa-free entry, while others, like Kenya and Ethiopia, automatically provide visas on arrival to people from China.

The rental company has claimed damages exceeding CNY 2 million (£215,000) and has publicly shared the incident through videos, but so far there is no trace of the man after he apparently entered Africa.

The wrecked vehicle remains at the rental location over 20 days after the accident. The McLaren displayed branding from a Zhuhai racing rental company, which has since clarified that they are not connected to the incident.