Deggendorf, Germany  - German police said Wednesday they had seized five luxury cars and confiscated the owners' driving licences to halt an illegal cannonball run across Europe.

The five men, from Britain and Spain, were believed to be racing from the German city of Cologne on a criss-cross route to Croatia with stops at Munich, Salzburg and Vienna.

Police patrols were waiting for the pack on Tuesday during a dog-leg via Deggendorf, north of Munich, and impounded the cars, worth 1 million euros (1.6 million dollars) in total. Police said the racers were furious and called their lawyers.

Later, when the owners tried to obtain top-of-the-line cars at a car-rentals agency, their licences were taken too.

Police said they believed two of the racers had been in collisions, and were checking out claims that an expensive Italian-made car had been simply left behind near the German city of Dresden. One of the confiscated cars also had dents in it. (dpa)