Booze runners crying in their beer after Northamptonshire road safety check uncovers stash

Stunned traffic cops hit the jackpot after pulling over a battered van for a routine spot check.

What they thought might be a rickety wheel or dodgy suspension turned out to by a whopping load of illegal booze stashed in the back.

The vehicle was stopped for a routine once-over as part of Northamptonshire Police's Operation Journey road safety crackdown.

PC Dave Lee, of the Force's Safer Roads Team, admitted: "The van didn't grab out attention too much — until we opened the back doors.

"It turned out to be 42 per cent over its permitted weight with a load of illegal booze on board.

"The driver had not insurance, too, so the vehicle was seized and the alcohol handed over to Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs."

Operation Journey, which kicked off earlier this month, is a three-month campaign aimed at reducing the number of people killed and seriously injured on Northamptonshire's roads.

It focuses on the 'fatal four' offences — speeding, drink or drug driving, not wearing a seatbelt and using a mobile phone at the wheel — but will also include road safety checks.