BRITISH business could face tough limits on the number of hours van drivers can work in a week, after a German MEP lobbied the European Parliament to restrict van drivers to a maximum 45-hour working week. German MEP Helmut Markov called on MEPs to harmonise the Working Time Directive and the Regulation on Driving Time and extend the scope of the regulation to vehicles less than 3.5- tonnes.

Markov's report will be voted on either in September or October, but has already been backed by the independent European Transport Safety Council.