DANGEROUS lorries have been targeted by police in a motorway crackdown.

Lancashire Police teamed up with officers from Greater Manchester and Cheshire Constabularies to carry out Operation Mermaid, at the checkpoint site at the western end of the M65.

They were joined by staff from VOSA, Customs, and the Highways Agency.

A total of 48 vehicles were checked, and police said 13 were in breach of drivers’ hours, two were taken off the road due to safety issues, nine were told to carry out work before completing their journey, and seven were overweight.

Customs found one driver’s truck loaded with illegal red diesel. It was seized and he was fined £500, police said.

Lancashire Constabulary’s motorway unit chief Phil Cottam said: “We make rigorous checks on vehicles, the majority of which are maintained to a high standard.

“I believe the success of this operation is down to the close partnership between different police forces and agencies like VOSA and Customs, with whom we now pool intelligence to target dangerous operators.

“This should send a clear message to operators that we will not tolerate vehicles in a poor state on our roads.

"The state of some of the vehicles we stop could lead to a catastrophic incident on the network, resulting in a motorway meltdown.”