Half the foreign lorries checked on British roads last year had serious safety defects that could have resulted in crashes, according to official figures.

Eastern European lorries were the worst offenders, with prohibition notices placed on 62 per cent of those from the Czech Republic, 61 per cent from Romania, 55 per cent from Latvia, 52 per cent from Bulgaria and 49 per cent from Poland.

Foreign lorry drivers were more than twice as likely as British drivers to have breached rules on the maximum time spent behind the wheel without a break. More than 37 per cent of drivers of lorries registered in Greece had exceeded that limit, compared with 9 per cent of British drivers.

Foreign lorries were more likely to be dangerously overloaded, with a third of those from Spain, Portugal and the Republic of Ireland found to be over the weight limit.

The figures, published by the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (Vosa), will increase pressure on the Department for Transport (DfT) to take tougher action against rogue foreign freight companies.

With diesel a third cheaper on average on the Continent and drivers from Eastern Europe costing less to employ, the number of foreign lorries on British roads has risen to record levels. Three quarters of all lorries crossing the Channel last year were registered overseas. A decade ago, half were British.

On a typical day 12,000 foreign and 95,000 British lorries are on the country’s roads.

There were more than 1,100 crashes involving foreign lorries in 2005, including 450 side-swipes in which drivers on the left of the cab pulled out into the path of another vehicle.

Vosa carried out 34,500 roadside checks on lorries on international journeys in the South East last year, double the previous year. But while the agency was able to impose substantial fines on British lorries, foreign lorries were usually allowed to drive off after a few hours.

The DfT announced plans a year ago to introduce on-the-spot fines for foreign lorries and clamp those that refused to pay. But a DfT spokesman said the new enforcement system would not be introduced until early next year.

The Freight Transport Association said: “The DfT has trumpeted this policy but they seem to be dragging their feet about introducing it.” It called on the department to require all foreign lorries entering Britain to register their details and provide evidence that they had passed roadworthiness tests.

Several other European countries have less rigorous testing regimes than Britain.

Richard Howitt, a Labour MEP for the East of England, has been leading a campaign for stricter rules for foreign lorries after a constituent was killed in a collision with a Dutch truck driver last year. Police suspected that the Dutchman had been driving on the wrong side of the road. He refused to return to Britain for the inquest.

Mr Howitt said: “We cannot have a system whereby two trucks travelling down the same stretch of UK motorway, one British and the other from another European country, are subject to different monitoring and safety inspection regimes.

“Trucks from across the Continent must be registered as they enter the country, and be subject to the same rigorous UK inspection standards in terms of driver’s hours, professional driving qualifications and the condition of their vehicles. At the moment foreign drivers are able to flout our laws, and then flee without fear of being tracked back to their own country.”

Fatigue alert

The percentage of lorry drivers from other countries who, when checked on British roads, were found to have exceeded the limit on driving hours:

Greece 37

Turkey 36

Republic of Ireland 35

Romania 35

Latvia 33

Austria 32

Germany 30

Slovenia 29

Hungary 25

Britain 9

Source: VOSA; year to March 2007

Explore UK News

• Crime News

• Education News

• Health News

• Scotland News

Times Recommends

• The playboy and the Tory party leader
• Bin Laden's family tree is impenetrable jungle
• Paul McCartney