MORE money is needed to crack down on dodgy truckers, says South Swindon MP Julia Drown.

A total of 92 pedestrians were killed after being hit by lorries on British roads in 2002, and 63 lorry drivers and passengers also died in crashes.

Ms Drown has accused a hard core of unscrupulous truckers of flouting safety rules to boost profits.

Driving without a licence, overloading, using old and poorly maintained vehicles with defective brakes, and falling asleep at the wheel are just some of the ways freight operators and drivers are risking lives.

"Lorries are less likely to be involved in a crash than cars, but when they are, the consequences are often fatal," said Ms Drown.

"While the majority of freight operators and drivers are safety-conscious and obey the law, a significant minority continue to flout it, unfairly undercutting the competition, bringing the trucking industry as a whole into disrepute and putting themselves and others at risk on the road."

The Labour MP is backing a campaign to cut deaths and injuries from road crashes caused by illegally operated lorries. She has signed an Early Day Motion in Parliament highlighting the dangers of driver tiredness and calling for tighter controls of drivers' working hours.

Ms Drown said: "Vehicle examiners and traffic police are doing the best with the resources they have, but I'd like to see more funding for specialist staff and equipment to better police our roads and to educate freight operators about the long-term benefits of investing in road safety."

Ms Drown also drew attention to the total number of people dying on the roads every year. "Last year 3,431 people were killed on UK roads," she said. "The figures for Swindon are also shocking 1,036 casualties in total, of whom 108 were killed or seriously injured."