A senior BMW manager who lied to police about driving at 101mph on Oxford's Eastern Bypass has been jailed.

Thomas Moser, of Poet's Place, Banbury Road, Oxford, was caught in May during routine roadside speed checks.

The 48-year-old, who is the German carmaker's UK finance director, was travelling at twice the legal limit, but tried to pass the blame on to his 19-year-old son.

Yesterday, he was jailed for six weeks.

Last night, BMW said it was considering taking disciplinary action against Moser, who appeared at Banbury Magistrates' Court to admit charges of perjury and speeding.

The court was told a notice of intended prosecution was sent to Moser on May 18. He said the car was a company vehicle at the Mini factory in Cowley, and other drivers had access to it.

Ann Sawyer-Brandish, prosecuting, said: "Moser was sent a photograph. It was clear who the driver was and that there was only one person in the car. But Moser, who already had six penalty points on his licence, nominated his 19-year-old son Maximilian as the driver.

"Police wrote to his son, who lives in Munich, who replied agreeing he had been the driver.

"Moser continued to maintain his son had been driving, despite three times being given the chance to change his story.

"He was arrested and charged."

Moser was caught while driving along the southbound carriageway close to the spot where three teenagers and a student were killed in May 2005. After the accident the speed limit was lowered to 50mph.

Jacob Hallam, defending, said: "Mr Moser is not the sort of man who would normally be anywhere near a court. He has worked for BMW for 20 years and has worked his way up to become finance director.

"Colleagues speak highly of him and he has found this to be a sad, humbling and humiliating experience. He embarked on this foolish course of action because he knew he would be disqualified."

Moser was sentenced to six weeks' imprisonment for perjury and fined £1,200 for speeding.

He was ordered to pay £60 costs and was disqualified from driving for three months.

Pc Pat Knight said: "Thirty to 40 cases of drivers claiming someone else was at the wheel of speeding vehicles have come to court in the past 18 months - and there are another 40 or so waiting.

"We are actively pursuing drivers who try to cheat the system."

Commenting on the speed at which Moser was caught, Dan Campsall, of the Thames Valley Safer Roads Partnership, said: "It's staggering.

"If anything goes wrong at 100mph the driver's ability to deal with it is minimal - the consequences in many cases are fatal."

BMW Cowley spokesman Rebecca Baxter said: "We will be looking into disciplinary action."