Road safety could be revolutionised by a car night-vision system that can detect people and animals at a greater distance than conventional headlights.

In cars, the heat-seeking infra-red beam could be used alongside headlights to alert drivers sooner to obstacles.

For military use the sophisticated equipment would allow trucks to operate without headlights in the dark.

An S-Type Jaguar car and a military truck were unveiled recently as prototypes by British designers.

Another futuristic design includes a lightweight diesel-engined motorcycle that took almost ten years and £250,000 to develop.

The driving force for the motorcycle engine is the need for a single source of fuel on the battlefield.

Diesel is easier to transport than petrol and is less likely to explode.

The bike's engine was pioneered by engineers at the Royal Military College of Science in Shrivenham.

The night-vision equipment was manufactured by Thales Optronics in Glasgow, who first made the technology to be used in jet fighter planes.

Information about what is on the ground is projected on to a glass screen inside the cockpit of the plane.

The team of scientists quickly realised that the same technology could be used by vehicles on the ground. Information is projected from the dashboard on to the windscreen like a computer game.

The innovative designs were among 40 on show to senior military officers in Surrey who will weigh up which models will be mass produced in the future.

Baroness Symons, Minister for Defence Procurement, said: "These vehicles confirm that British ingenuity is alive and thriving.

"The UK has an enviable engineering record and there could be considerable commercial spin-offs."