A MILLIONAIRE hired two Ferrari convertibles when his own luxury motor was being repaired after a crash and tried to get insurers to foot the £230,000 bill.

Businessman Paul Frankland had four other vehicles at home, but said he needed the Italian sports cars "for getting to and from work and for social and family commitments".

The 51-year-old North Yorkshire businessman insisted he needed a comparable vehicle to his damaged Ferrari 360 Modena while it was off the road for several months being fixed.

He got "credit hire" for two separate £150,000 Ferrari California convertibles for seven months and claimed a total of £236,724.

The £25,000 repairs to his own high-value ride took so long because specialist parts had to be shipped in from the manufacturers in Italy, a court was told.

Mr Frankland has now lost a long-running legal fight to claim the money back from the insurers of the driver who took responsibility for the accident in 2012.

UK Insurance paid out for the repairs, but fought the bid by motorhome hire company boss Mr Frankland to claw back the money for the high-spec hire cars.

A district judge ruled against the businessman last year, and said a Ferrari was "plainly an occasional hobby, a spare-time indulgence for a well-off man".

The decision was upheld on appeal by a more senior judge at Darlington County Court, but he said he "might take issue" with one aspect of the earlier ruling.

Judge Peter Armstrong said: "To many car enthusiasts, after the E-Type Jaguar, Ferraris are the most beautifully-designed and desirable of motor cars."

In his ruling, he added: "It may well be that the acquisition of such a motor car fulfils a childhood ambition and may be the result of careful financial management.

"Whether the claimant was well-off or not is not a relevant consideration for the purposes of the application. I am, however, of the opinion that the description by the district judge of the claimant's Ferrari as 'plainly an occasional hobby' was justified on all the evidence."

The court heard how Mr Frankland's £105,000 Ferrari 360 Modena was insured for just 1,000 miles a year and was not listed as being used to get to work.

Information from his insurers showed there were four other vehicles on the policy - a £37,000 BMW 335, a LandRover Defender, an MG Midget and a Citroen Berlingo.

Judge Armstrong ordered that Mr Frankland, who lives on Great North Road, Brompton-on-Swale, near Northallerton, should pay the costs of the legal fight.

He said: "The defence apply for summary judgement on the basis that the evidence showed that the complainant had no need to obtain a replacement car on hire.

"It turned out that he had five vehicles insured with the same insurer and had previously told another company that the Ferrari was his second car."