They have been demolished with diggers, destroyed by fire and even blown up with explosives by angry motorists.

Now a speed camera billed as the toughest in the world has been designed in an attempt to repel vandals. The device towers 4m above the road and features strengthened glass, a fire resistant body and stiffened steel base. It is fitted with smoke and vibration sensors to detect an attack. If somebody 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 can control both sided of the road simultaneously.

It remains to be seen how this camera holds up to Zuma’s machine gun.