An Oxford builder who dug up a speed hump over noise complaints may still work on county council road improvement schemes in future.

Ian "Digger" Beesley thought flattening a hump in Ferry Hinksey Road, west Oxford, had scuppered his chances of working for the county council.

But the council said it would be wrong to rule out giving him contracts.

Mr Beesley, 41, dug up a raised pedestrian crossing on Saturday, November 23, because he said it amplified noise from lorries and kept him and his wife, Lillian, awake at night.

He has previously worked for both Oxfordshire County Council and Oxford City Council. He helped build manholes in Oxford's High Street and Banbury Road, and a cycle path in Abingdon.

Ironically, his company, I E Beesley Land Drainage, was in the running to implement the traffic-calming measures in Ferry Hinksey Road as a sub-contractor.

He now expected work from the county council to dry up.

"I would have thought that's at an end now." he said, "otherwise they would look stupid. I won't lose a lot of sleep over it though."

The county council's executive member for transport and highways, David Robertson, said he would not let Mr Beesley's direct action harm him commercially.

He said: "Oxford County Council is not small-minded about issues like this. It would be quite wrong of us to let this prejudice where we place work in future if he has done good work in the past."

But Mr Robertson added that Mr Beesley was "out of order" to dig up the road after giving the council only a few days to deal with his noise complaint.