SNAPPED speeding at 101mph past the site where four people died in one of Oxford's worst car crashes, this motorist faces an automatic driving ban.

Officers are mounting the first cross-border speeding summons to track down the driver.

A mobile speed camera captured the BMW Mini on Oxford's Eastern Bypass travelling at twice the 50mph limit in May.

The owner lives in Britain and was traced, but gave police the name of a man from a European Union country he said was behind the wheel and has since returned home.

PC Pat Knight, of the fixed penalty support unit, is hoping the international court summons could set a legal precedent. He would not say in which country the driver lived.

PC Knight said: "Why should a driver from another European country come here and speed to that extent bearing in mind the speed limit on the bypass is there for a specific reason, that terrible accident, and because of its crash history?"

The case was initially closed last week when investigating officers accepted the driver could not be traced.

But it has now been reopened and officers are discussing an international summons with the Crown Prosecution Service to return the driver to the UK.

PC Knight added: "I am seeking to serve a summons on the driver at the address in the European country in which he lives and bring him back to a court in the UK because of the high speed involved.

"As far as I'm aware this has never been done before and I would like to set a precedent and get this driver into a UK court."

The Thames Valley Camera Safety Partnership mobile speed camera was deployed in May near the site of Oxford's Eastern Bypass crash. It caught 76 speeding drivers in just two days.

In 2005 three 13-year-olds - Marshall Haynes, Liam Hastings and Josh Bartlett - and 21-year-old student Howard Hillsdon, were killed when a car lost control and veered across the central reservation.

Although speed was not a factor in the crash, last year the speed limit was reduced from 70mph to 50mph and a concrete barrier installed on the grass central reservation.

Paul Walters, head of roads and transport at the AA, said: "There are moves to develop cross border enforcement across Europe and this case highlights the need to do that."