A controversial speed camera on Flitwick Road in the town of Ampthill in Bedfordshire, England had its ten-foot solar power pole knocked deep into the ground over this weekend.

"The speed camera has had this coming and many people will believe that whoever did the dastardly deed deserves a medal," resident Charlie Garth told the Bedfordshire on Sunday newspaper. "Drive at 35 MPH at 2:30 in the morning when nobody else is around and you still get a £60 (US $114) fine and penalty points on your license. The deterrent effect is minimal anyway."

"The only people who get caught are those from out of town," Garth added. "So it is like a tax on strangers, which is perhaps no bad thing if it keeps the riff-raff out of Ampthill."