A speed trap which was vandalised and put out of action will cost several thousand pounds to repair.

The camera, which was sited on the A40 Oxford to Witney road near the Cassington junction, was knocked off its post some time last week.

Maintenance men spotted that it was missing on May 18 and it is expected to be repaired by the end of the week.

Dan Campsall, spokesman for the Thames Valley Safer Roads Partnership, said it would probably cost "somewhere in the region of £5,000 to £7,000" to repair the equipment.

He said: "The housing was just removed and dumped in the hedge right nearby so everything has been recovered from the site."

Thames Valley Police are investigating the incident, which they believe was a deliberate attack rather than an accident.

Mr Campsall said: "If a vehicle were to strike it, it would bend the whole thing around away from the road, rather than remove the head with a clean cut."

The film in the camera will be of no help to investigation officers, Mr Campsall said.

"Unless somebody was very quick with cutting it off, the camera doesn't record that type of thing", he explained.