The list of things that are bad for you now has a new entry.

To the familiar catalogue (cigarettes, caffeine, supporting the England cricket team, etc) we can now apparently add speed humps.

Until recently, we had all laboured under the misapprehension that these little lumps of tarmac were marvels of modern road engineering - curbing manic motorists and protecting humble pedestrians.

Then a builder called Ian Beesley removed one with his JCB and the revolution began.

Humps, it now seems, are less popular than the poll tax.

The latest ones to feel the heat of public fury are in Leckford Road, north Oxford.

Not only can cars rush over them without a flicker on the speedometer, but three grandmothers are reported to have been tripped up by them.

As the newspaper which unwittingly kicked off this saga with our account of Mr Beesley's exploits, we feel inclined to berate the county council for the cash it is wasting on some of these schemes.

But the rest of us also need to pause for thought. We are expecting the impossible - something which slows down cars without blocking emergency vehicles; greater safety for pedestrians, but nothing that might trip them up.

We've said it before and we'll say it again - motorists must slow down.