Britain imposed an asset freeze on Colonel Gaddafi as he and his family tried to pocket nearly £900 million worth of Libyan money in the UK.

With Gaddafi’s opposition closing in, his allies launched a brazen attempt to seize banknotes from a warehouse in Britain, where they are printed, The Daily Mail reports.

The asset freeze also follows reports that Gaddafi shifted £3bn to Britain last week.

There were fears that the money might be used to finance further violence against the Libyan people.

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The chancellor George Osborne said: “I have today taken action to freeze the assets in the UK of Colonel Gaddafi and his family or those acting on their behalf so that they cannot be used against the interests of the Libyan people. This follows the UN security council resolution tabled by the UK and France.

In his strongest condemnation of the despot yet, Prime Minister David Cameron said “It’s time to go.”

A travel ban has been imposed on Gaddafi as part of United Nations-led sanctions against his regime.

Mr Cameron said: “All of this sends a clear message to this regime: it is time for Colonel Gaddafi to go and to go now. There is no future for Libya that includes him.”

The Libyan leader looked increasingly isolated as rebel forces took control of a city just 30 miles outside of Tripoli.