IT'S not quite a case of the irresistible force meeting the immovable object.

But it is clear that when the First company's state-of-the-art bendy buses tackle Southampton City Council's speed humps something has to give.

When the buses with their hydraulic ramps, super-low floors and spacious interiors swept into the city in August 2000, disabled rights activists cheered.

"Finally," they cried, "a bus we can use".

But now First bus company's 13-strong fleet has been bumped off two routes through Southampton because they were being damaged by speed humps.

As reported in yesterday's Daily Echo, the multi-million-pound vehicles were scraping along the ramps, destroying the special bus turntable.

Now disabled rights champion Ian Loynes has asked why the City Council does not replace the free-standing ramps with ones the buses can pass over.

The Southampton Centre for Independent Living spokesman is appalled that nothing is being done to get the special accessible buses back on the 17 and 17A routes.

"It beggars belief," he said. "I find it totally ridiculous that either the bus company is buying buses that won't go over speed humps or the council is building ramps that aren't compatible.

"It's impossible to believe that they can't talk about these things. It's about being pragmatic.

"You can't throw the bendy buses away and you can't redesign them. The only way forward is to change the design of the speed humps or take them away."

But Southampton transport planners have said there are no plans to dig up the old ramps or replace them.

A city council spokesman said: "All new buses and most buses in operation in Southampton are low-floor and are wheelchair accessible.

"It's only this particular make of bendy bus that has problems negotiating the humps which meet Department for Transport design regulations and are widely used throughout the UK.

"The humps are in place in the interests of public safety to reduce accidents."

For Mr Loynes, however, this is not the issue.

"It just seems that a bit of forward thinking would have saved all these problems in the first place.

"Government wants us to use public transport. It's hard enough finding accessible transport - and then it gets removed for some ridiculous reason."

First Hampshire refused to comment on Mr Loynes' proposals.