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Lorry drivers are set to be allowed to drive for up to 11 hours a day until next year in a bid to stave off the current delivery crisis.
Ministers are believed to be discussing easing the current rules around driving HGVs in the UK until the end of January.
But unions have slammed the proposal as 'dangerous and reckless' and 'potentially illegal' and are considering legal action.
Unite, which represents thousands of drivers, is protesting against the rules over fears drivers could become exhausted and crash.
Ministers are believed to be discussing easing the current rules around driving HGVs in the UK until the end of January
And the union is looking into taking legal action against the Department for Transport.
It claims the measures will be extended until January 23, meaning that drivers would have had potentially longer working hours for six months.
Some 90,000 delivery driver positions are waiting to be filled in the UK due to a combination of issues including Brexit and track and trace systems forcing drivers to self-isolate.
Drivers are usually required to take a 45-minute break after four and a half hours on the road and aren't allowed to drive for more than nine hours a day.
But the new rules mean that drivers can stay on the road for ten hours a day or 11 hours - but only for two days.
It was thought the change, brought into effect on July 12, would last until August 8 but it was then extended to October 4.
Back in July Transport Secretary Grant Shapps loosened restrictions in a bid to help the delivery driver crisis.
