'Intelligent' speed humps which vary in size depending on the speed of a driver could be tried out in Oxfordshire.

The new generation of traffic calming is designed to get tough on speeding motorists -- but not those who obey the speed limit.

The air-filled rubber hump, which has been manufactured by engineers at Dunlop, is already being piloted in London.

It is designed to deflate if cars drive at or below the speed restriction.

Charlbury county councillor Brian Hodgson is so impressed with the concept of intelligent humps he has asked county council surveyors to pilot a scheme in Oxfordshire.

He said: "This would be good news for the whole county if they proved successful and I'm offering to pilot these intelligent humps in my ward on the Woodstock Road, in Stonesfield, because I think more should be done to impose the speed limit."

The humps, which cost about £2,000, are programmed to allow police, fire engines and ambulances to pass without having to slow down.

Colin Carritt, area engineer for Oxfordshire County Council, said: "I haven't seen one of these intelligent speed humps, but I understand they have an effect on people who drive at speeds that communities don't want them to. It doesn't affect sensible drivers, but it does the idiots who drive too fast.

"I don't think it's a gimmick, but before we take up Brian Hodgson's request we would want to do more research."

One advantage is that the rubber construction of the hump means less noise is generated than its concrete cousin.

But Ian 'Digger' Beesley, who made headlines across the world in 2002 by removing a speed hump in Ferry Hinksey Road, Oxford, with his JCB, said he would do it again if one was put outside his house.

Mr Beesley, 43, got so fed up with the noise made by vehicles driving over a speed hump in Ferry Hinksey Road at night that he used his digger to remove it -- and ended up in court.

He said: "What an absolute waste of time and money.

"I am not a fan of road humps and if the council decided to put one up outside my house then I would dig it up -- it wouldn't worry me one little bit. I just want to be able to sleep."

David Robertson, the county council's executive member for transport, said: "If it had been April 1 then I would have been dubious about intelligent road humps. But we should not close our minds to anything like that -- it could be a solution in certain circumstances.

"I'm sceptical, but I'm here to be proved wrong. I would have to see it working somewhere else first."