Last year UK motorists attempted to defraud insurance companies out of £260 million or the equivalent of £5 million every week, new research has revealed.

Studies carried out by the Association of British Insurers (ABI) found the number of dishonest motor claims detected has risen by 70 per cent in the last three years.

Cheats caught included a driver who pushed his car off a cliff then claimed it had been stolen and a woman who deliberately drove her Land Rover into the front of her house before claiming it as an accident.

A Rolls Royce owner reported the front grill, hubcaps, steering wheel, seats and bonnet mascot had been stolen from his car, but the items were later found in his house by police.

Nick Starling, the ABI's director of general insurance and health, said: "Insurance fraud is no victimless crime. Honest motorists pay through higher insurance premiums – an extra £40 a year on average.

"This is why insurers are ramping up their crackdown to weed out the cheats."

Last week, Suffolk police announced they have seized 623 vehicles driven by uninsured drivers in the first four months of this year.