This is the shocking moment ex-England footballer Raheem Sterling drives his £270,000 Lamborghini erratically and swerves across three lanes on the motorway just moments before crashing.

The dashcam footage, obtained exclusively by the Daily Mail, shows the ex-Liverpool and Manchester City forward pull in front of another motorist without indicating on the M3 in Hampshire.

He can be seen with what looks to be a balloon filled with 'hippy crack' as he turns back into the inside lane before then suddenly darting across the motorway at speed almost hitting the central reservation.

The footage was taken just minutes before he was arrested on suspicion of being unfit to drive through drugs by police after crashing into motorway barriers at 9am on Thursday.

In the shocking footage a works van following behind can be seen braking as Sterling continues to drive in the outer lane before once again veering back across all three lanes.

The dashcam footage was supplied by a driving instructor who was travelling with his family on holiday to Dorset.

The motorist, who asked not to be named, said: 'I was in the middle lane and without warning a black Lamborghini pulled in front of me, forcing me to slow.

'I dropped back. I'm a driving instructor after all.

'The car turned back into the inside lane but the driver put his foot down and veered right across all three lanes and seemed to just avoid hitting the central reservation.

'It's a powerful car and he could have easily gone through the central reservation if he'd hit the accelerator.

'A van driver behind him was forced to brake and he then shot off again and turned back across three lanes again into the inside lane.

'This was all caught on dashcam from 8.45am on Thursday. It was just before Junction 4a southbound on the M3.

'The motorist was all over the place but I had no idea it was Raheem Sterling until I saw that he'd been arrested on suspicion of drug-driving by the Minley Interchange.

'I like Raheem but as a driving instructor I'm very concerned.

'He could have easily caused himself - and others - a great deal of harm. He was very fortunate that he did not do so.'

Sterling, 31, who last played for his country in December 2022, allegedly crashed his Lamborghini into motorway barriers and was pulled over by Hampshire Police.

He was arrested and later bailed pending enquiries.

A force spokesman said in a statement: 'Just before 9am on Thursday, we received reports that a Lamborghini was in collision with barriers on the M3 southbound, close to the Minley Interchange.

'No other vehicles were involved and no injuries were reported.

'The driver, a 31-year-old man, from Berkshire, has been arrested on suspicion of driving a vehicle whilst unfit through drugs, driving dangerously, possession of a Class C drug and failing to provide a specimen. He has been bailed while our enquiries continue.'

A van driver, who had been behind Sterling, just before his crash previously told how he had been beeping his horn to warn him after becoming concerned at his reckless driving.

The witness said Sterling drove on the wrong side of the slip road at one point before hitting a barrier sending his Lamborghini four feet into the air and causing the vehicle to spin 180 degrees so that it faced oncoming traffic.

The video, which later went viral online, was captioned 'My real Gs up on that late night s***'.

An estimated 124 people are killed annually in the UK in collisions involving a drug-impaired driver.

Drug-driving fatalities have risen significantly in recent years, up from 90 deaths in 2022.

Overall, approximately one in five fatal road collisions involves a driver impaired by alcohol or drugs.

Just last week a dangerous driver and his passenger who filmed themselves inhaling nitrous oxide from balloons while travelling at speeds reaching 139mph were jailed for a combined total of 23 years following a horror crash that claimed a man's life.

Uways Hussain, 20, was driving a VW Golf GTI belonging to friend Usmon Mahmood, 23, in the early hours of March 9 this year when they drove through a red light and smashed into Sylvester Abayomi's Volvo S40 in Burnage, Manchester.

Sterling's representatives declined to comment when contacted by the Daily Mail but a source close to the player explained how he has had a hellish two years.

The source said: 'The psychological strain that has been put on him is immeasurable. Isolated. The second he touches a ball, being told he's a flop and he's finished. Mocked. Heckled.

'He moved to the Netherlands to escape and rediscover his love for the game but the negativity followed. It's been an extremely tough couple of years for him and this incident encompasses that.'

Sterling started his career at QPR but broke through at Liverpool as a teenager, before leaving Anfield for Manchester City in 2015, where he won ten major trophies, including the Premier League four times.

He played 82 times for the England senior team, with his last appearance in the 2-1 defeat by France in the quarter-finals of the 2022 World Cup

However, since leaving City for Chelsea in a £50million deal in 2022 he has endured a torrid spell, which saw him exiled at Stamford Bridge before a failed loan spell with Arsenal and move to Dutch giants Feyenoord, where he made just eight appearances with no goals.