The driver of an £8.5million supercar which crashed in a tunnel was bathroom billionaire Mark Radcliffe, MailOnline can reveal.

Mr Radcliffe, 44, who made his fortune founding online bathroom retailer Victorian Plumbing is understood to have been driving the unique purple Pagani Zonda 760 LH when it crashed after buying it from Formula 1 star Lewis Hamilton last year.

The car lost control and crashed at Penmaenbach Tunnel on the A55 expressway in Conwy in north Wales on Tuesday.

An eyewitness told MailOnline Mr Radcliffe was behind the wheel at the time and was uninjured in the crash.

And another source said: ‘He’s very lucky to escape in one piece after a crash like that.’

Mark Radcliffe (pictured) who made his fortune founding online bathroom retailer Victorian Plumbing is understood to have been driving the unique purple Pagani Zonda 760 LH when it crashed

The car lost control and crashed at Penmaenbach Tunnel on the A55 expressway in Conwy in north Wales on Tuesday

Supercar fans also wished the businessman, with one commenting: ‘So sad, hope Mark’s ok.’

Another added: ‘Well driven, hope ‘Rad’ is ok though.’

Mr Radcliffe, from Southport, Merseyside, is known to be a lover of supercars. He is registered as a driver in the British GT championships and has raced 73 times, winning four. At his last race in June he finished first in the GT Cup Championship held at Snetterton Racetrack in Norwich.

He started Victorian Plumbing from his parents’ shed in 2000 and remains the largest shareholder. Mum and dad Carole and George, and brother Neil are also shareholders.

Before Victorian Plumbing, Radcliffe became the UK’s first Ebay millionaire at the age of 30 after he set up First2save, a mobile phone accessories business, from the same shed.

He has said he wanted to make money so he could buy an expensive car by the time he was 25 – though he missed this goal and bought a Ferrari when he was 26.

Mr Radcliffe has been contacted for comment.

Dash cam footage of the moment of the crash was captured by a motorist who had just been overtaken by the purple supercar.

Dash cam footage of the moment of the crash was captured by a motorist who had just been overtaken by the purple supercar

The retired driving instructor told MailOnline: ‘The crash was so dramatic. He hit one wall and spun round 360 degrees before bouncing off the other. There was an enormous bang and sparks everywhere. I was worried the car was going to explode.’

The witness, from Altrincham, said: ‘My wife and I were on our way to a caravan to begin our holiday and were driving on the dual carriageway.

‘It was making a really loud booming noise as it overtook.

‘There was a light rain and the surface may have been slippery.

‘I watched as the car sped into the tunnel and then he seemed to suddenly lose control. He hit one wall, span round into the other, which he bounced off before finally coming to a halt.

‘It was a spectacular crash and quite terrifying. My wife was quite shaken and I was concerned the car might explode so I drew to a halt and waited to check that he was ok.

‘A man got out of the car and he seemed completely ok. He was just worried about the damage to the car. Once we knew he was ok we went on our way and it wasn’t until later that I discovered that it was a famous car.’

Ethan Gale, a supercar photographer posted pictures of the damage on Instagram and wrote: ‘Very sad day in the motoring world this evening. A car I never thought I would see.

The man – Mark Radcliffe – got out of the car and ‘seemed completely ok’, one witness said

Lewis Hamilton (pictured) sold the car to Mark Radcliffe last year for £8.5 millions

‘Ever since seeing this on YouTube driving around Monaco back in the day, it’s always been a dream car to tick off the list.

‘Hopefully the car gets a full restoration and is back on the road in the future.’

The photographer added that the owner of the vehicle ‘is unharmed and shook up’.

‘What exactly happened is to be a mystery,’ he said. ‘But rumours go; it accelerated in the tunnel and lost control to the rear hit the wall and spun it.

‘But the main thing is that the owner is okay. Cars can be repaired, people’s lives can’t.’

The Italian car was ordered from Horacio Pagani by the driver seven years ago.

The Zonda 760 LH can reach up to 217mph and can go from 0-60mph in an eye-watering 2.6seconds. It was one of the very Zonda models that has a manual fitted gearbox.

When he first bought the car, Hamilton showed his pride of joy off, posing next to the AMG powered Zonda in front of a picturesque view.

The car was said to hit one wall before spinning around 360 degrees and bouncing off the other wall

A witness to the crash described it as ‘spectacular’ and ‘quite terrifying’

Hamilton himself once crashed it – following a week of partying in Monaco. Back in 2015, just under a year since he first bought the car, Hamilton crashed the whip into three stationary vehicles while in Monaco.

The crash came after the driver had been celebrating for a week non-stop since winning the world championships.

He said: ‘It was a result of heavy partying and not much rest for a week and a half.

‘I am a bit run down. I have been non-stop and trying to fit training in at the same time and not getting a lot of sleep.

‘The last two days I have slept pretty much all day. I couldn’t believe how much I slept. I slept on the flight here. I usually sleep four or five hours but when you are training you need more than that.’