A sackful of fan mail has encouraged builder Ian Beesley to print fundraising T-shirts after he dug up an Oxford speed hump.

About 100 people have written letters of support to Mr Beesley and his wife, Lillian, after he used his JCB to remove a hump in Ferry Hinksey Road. Donations have also been sent.

And a legal firm has offered to represent him for no fee should he go to court.

Staff and parents of pupils at West Oxford Primary School asked the county council to install the traffic calming, but Mr Beesley -- known as 'Digger' by friends -- complained that noise from lorries going over the hump at night kept him awake.

He has been questioned by police on suspicion of causing criminal damage and is waiting to hear if he will be charged.

Now the couple have ordered 100 T-shirts, which will be sold for £10 each to pay for any legal costs or fines. A relative in America is setting up a website to sell the clothes.

Mrs Beesley said: "The T-shirts will have a big yellow JCB on the front and either 'Digger's Divas' or 'Digger's Dirt Gang'.

"On the back, they will say 'We Haven't Got The Hump -- Digger's Dug It Up'."

She said any money left over would be given to the BBC Children In Need charity appeal.

Letters have been sent both to the Beesley's home and the pub they run on Osney Island, Walter Mittey's.

A firm of solicitors based in Yorkshire has offered to represent Mr Beesley free of charge if he is prosecuted.

Legal executive John Harris, of Rafiq & Co, in Leeds, said he had handled a similar case involving Leeds City Council and was fascinated by the Ferry Hinksey Road case.

He would seek to invoke privacy laws under the Human Rights Act if instructed in the case, he added.

Mr Beesley has already sought advice from Oxford law firm Darbys.

A large number of people have written to the Oxford Mail about the issue, the overwhelming majority backing Mr Beesley.