So the Italians get a Gallardo, the Brits get a 612 Scaglietti, and the Aussies get... a Lotus Exige.

We're talking police cars. Racked off with lagging behind their northern hemisphere counterparts in the jam sandwich department, police in Sydney have laid their hands on an Exige to assist their fight against crime.

Having been inspired by the good bobbies of Norfolk, who were donated an Elise to help round up the Fen lowlifes, the New South Wales police force plan to use their Exige to, erm, encourage locals to slow down.

"The Lotus Exige will help break down barriers between our officers and youth in the area. It gives them a discussion point and a way of breaking the ice," said Superintendent Dave Darcy.

"We have a large proportion of car enthusiasts in the area and it is a challenge to influence them to drive safely. Whilst its easy to give this group tickets to slow them down, we would prefer to influence young drivers to take care on the roads."

Quite how one of one of the quickest cars to come out of Hethel in recent years is going to help errant speeders to realise the errors of their ways, we're not quite sure. But we're not going to argue with the logic of an Aussie policeman. He probably has a big gun and beats kangaroos with his bare fists.

Anyhow, the Sydney police say they're also looking forward to the fuel savings that the Elise will provide over their standard patroller - a 6.0-litre V8 Holden Commodore which struggles to top 20mpg. Strewth.

Thanks to Damian Halliga for the photos