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VOSA has pledged to intensify its crackdown on law-breaking foreign hauliers, following the success of its recent pilot scheme in Kent. The agency has promised to triple its enforcement effort on checks on roads and at ports around the country after the government allocated £4.7m this year to extend the work of the £1.5m South East International pilot.

During the year-long trial, which ended in March 2007, 7,907 out of the 17,941 vehicles checked were issued with prohibition notices.  A VOSA spokesman says: "The pilot was a success and VOSA is now trebling its enforcement effort on checks around the country."

VOSA held an 18-hour safety check for international vehicles near the M20 in Kent last week. Vehicle examiners checked 56 vehicles issuing 22 immediate and 11 delayed prohibitions for roadworthiness infringements. Traffic examiners looked at 49 vehicles and issued 16 prohibitions for drivers' hours breaches. Two offences for drivers' hours resulted in prohibitions of 45 hours for no weekly rest within the preceding two weeks.

Kevin Jury, VOSA senior vehicle examiner, says many of the roadside checks are based on past experience or specific intelligence. He adds: "The results of these checks speak for themselves and highlight the importance of VOSA's enforcement work, since we encountered a number of vehicles with multiple offences.

"These vehicles must be removed from the roads if we are to improve road safety." Inspectors found a  lorry run by a Greek operator with three severely defective tyres, a leaking fuel tank and a missing shock absorber. The driver failed to produce the required number of tachograph charts, and the few charts he produced showed insufficient rest period.