Car pinged for going three times above the speed limit in Wellington region

A motorist faces losing their licence after speeding through a city zone. Photo / Facebook

A "clown" has been caught driving a whopping three times above the speed limit in a North Island residential area.

The speeding vehicle was clocked by Kapiti-Mana police doing 163 km/h in a 50km/h zone - that's an eye watering 113 km/h over the legal limit.

In an post on the Wellington District Police Facebook page police branded the driver a clown, saying the new movie It must be popular because the motorist had just thrown their licence down the drain.

The 'It' 🎈 movie must be really popular, because this clown just threw their licence down the drain.... 🤡 #onlysixmonthstogo #speedkills #kapitimanapolice

Posted by Wellington District Police on Wednesday, 4 October 2017

They also used the hashtag "only six months to go" implying the person behind the wheel was not far off obtaining a full licence.

While Facebook users applauded the police for taking the speedster off the road many also praised the use of popular culture and humour to get the message across.

"Police got shade," posted Em Ngatai.

"Throw him down there to retrieve it and IT," wrote Elizabeth Martin.

"I haven't even seen the movie yet but I love this caption!!" said another post.