Indestructible! The speed camera that will defy bombs and bulldozers

Now a speed camera billed as the toughest in the world has been designed in an attempt to repel vandals.

The device towers 13ft above the road and features strengthened glass as well as a fire-resistant body and a stiffened steel base.

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It is fitted with smoke and vibration sensors which can detect an attack.

If someone does try to damage the camera, it triggers an alarm at the nearest police station and automatically downloads all its vital digital photographic data back to base so that no evidence is lost.

The camera's enforcement technology is just as hi-tech.

It can monitor four lanes of traffic at once, take front and rear facing images and, unlike the UK's current fixed speed cameras, can patrol both sides of the road simultaneously.

The IDEE machine - it stands for Innovative Digital Enforcement Environment - is already in use in Holland. According to the car magazine Auto Express, the Dutch manufacturer is hoping to bring it to the UK.

Mat Watson, news and features editor of Auto Express, said: "We've spoken to the maker and have found out they are keen to sell it across the rest of Europe including Britain.

"This would be done through their UK operation. The camera would need to go through Home Office-type approval before it could be put to work on the roads here, but this process could take less than a year.

"And the device should certainly appeal to the authorities here because it's the toughest speed camera in the world thanks to an array of anti-vandal counter measures."

The most significant of these is its fire-resistant properties.

The camera's internal design insulates the important enclosed electronics against extreme heat allowing them to survive most fires unharmed.

The camera, which costs between £30,000 and £50,000 depending on specification, is mounted in a thick steel base which is driven direct into the ground without the need for concrete foundations.

This set-up provides added strength against being rammed or pulled out of the ground.

The camerasand flash equipment are protected behind impact-resistant polycarbonate glass.

The anti-vandal features should leave the camera free to detect speeders which it does using induction loops in the road, although it can also operate with radar technology.

There are four separate high-resolution digital cameras which use infra-red technology to flash twice so rapidly that even in very busy traffic no incidents should be missed.

The flashes are also invisible to motorists who won't know they've been snapped until they receive a fine through the post.

Changes to the rules mean speed cameras in the UK no longer have to be bright yellow, but can be painted to blend in with their surroundings at the discretion of the local authority.