TWO lorry drivers who took turns to drive a truck for 28 hours without a proper rest break have been fined by police.

The truckers had travelled from Bulgaria and were taking parcels to Stansted airport when they were stopped on the M25 at Moto services, Thurrock .

An Essex Police spokesman said: “Checks by officers from the Essex Police Commercial Vehicle Unit showed they should have taken a full day’s rest after 21 hours of sharing the driving, but they had gone seven hours over the limit.”

Each driver was fined £400. Seven other drivers were also found to have broken “strict European regulations” on driving hours and a total of 103 breaches were detected.

Officers also dished out fines to drivers of four overweight vehicles, one vehicle without an MOT and one without insurance. Three vehicles without valid tax were dealt with by the DVLA. In total, 27 lorries and vans were stopped and £2,460 was collected in fines for the various offences.

The checks were carried out on Wednesday, September 20 as part of Operation Mermaid, a national campaign that aims to rid the roads of unsafe or dangerously-driven commercial vehicles.