Caught speeding? Crush a camera

LONDON (AFP) - A businessman is offering fed-up British motorists the chance to get their own back on hated speed cameras -- by crushing them with a 17-tonne tank, he said Tuesday.

Bill Bailey, who runs a paintball business in southwest England, said the off-road experience with a difference would involve drivers taking his Abbott 433 Self-Propelling Gun for a spin around a quarry with a driving instructor.

But to finish off, they use the caterpillar-tracked vehicle to vent their frustrations by mowing down a mocked-up speed camera.

"It will cost about 100 pounds (135 euros, 199 dollars) for an hour in the tank, with an extra charge of 60 pounds to crush the speed camera," he said.

"I think it will be popular with motorists. A lot of people may think that is a reasonable price to pay to destroy a Gatso," he added, referring to a Dutch-made Gatsometer brand of traffic safety camera used on British roads.

"There is also the option of blowing one up. The gun only fires blanks, but we can simulate an explosion at the other end with pyrotechnics."

There are thought to be about 6,000 speed cameras on Britain's roads. Critics complain that they do not prevent accidents but are used by the government to generate revenue from already heavily-taxed motorists.