Under The Counter was shocked to discover that the cost-of-living crisis is now so bad that Britain’s supercar drivers are struggling to pay for petrol.
According to fuel crime prevention platform Forecourt Eye, the number of NMOP incidents has risen sharply since the Strait of Hormuz started getting blocked more often than UTC’s coronary arteries.
NMOP is short for ‘no means of payment’ and is not, as the Auld Boy erroneously thought, the catchy smash hit single from 90s long-haired, angel-faced sibling popsters, Hanson.
An NMOP occurs when motorists fill up and then claim they’re skint – and they’re fast overtaking traditional drive-offs.
Speaking of which, check out the guy with the badly redacted coupon in the picture. You don’t need to be Jeremy Clarkson to see that’s not a clapped-out Vauxhall Corsa he’s refuelling at the retailer’s expense.
The vehicle is, rather, a McLaren 720S. At £208,600 – before you add on metallic paint, mudflaps and a set of mats – there are surely cheaper ways of indulging a mid-life crisis.
The 720S is not a car one normally associates with drive-offs. Given that it goes from 0 to 60 in 2.8 seconds though, it is possibly the ideal choice.
UTC has some sympathy for the driver, however. He can’t buy a tank of unleaded, nor even afford full-length breeks. Even worse, judging by the blacked-out area on the CCTV still, the poor guy must have a napper that would make ET shudder.
