According to the Latvian State Border Guard, which is responsible for patrolling the long lines of lorries that have formed as a result, around 1,000 trucks were waiting at the Terehova border crossing between Latvia and Russia on Wednesday, with another 500 at the Grebneva crossing and a further 500 waiting on the Russian side to return to the EU.

The queues started forming two weeks ago, when Russian customs inspectors decided Latvian trucks merited special scrutiny. A similar approach to Lithuanian trucks earlier this year caused the same kind of mayhem. In previous incidents, lines have stretched up to 40 kilometres.

However, such lines possess a miraculous ability to disappear just as quickly when Russia's customs inspectors return to their normal routine.

A special working group met in the Latvian capital, Riga, Wednesday in an attempt to tackle the problem but said it was being frustrated by a lack of communication from the Russian side, with most information coming via the media.

There have been a few cases where deliveries under the international road transport convention (TIR) were not performed properly, and Latvian drivers incurred debts due at the Russian customs posts. Russian customs then raised several claims regarding Latvian road carriers, said Andris Maldups of the Latvian Transport Ministry after the talks.

Guarantees by the Latvian side have been put in place to ensure the Russian state is paid any money due, but still the lines show no sign of shrinking, Maldups told the German Press Agency dpa.

'It is very disproportionate punishment from Russian customs - there have been problems with only 0.18 per cent of deliveries,' he said.

Though Latvian trucks have been targeted, delays caused by the new stringent checks mean that hundreds of Poles, Lithuanians, Germans and other nationalities have to wait for days in lines stretching for several kilometres amid a snowbound landscape.

For its part, the Russian Federal Customs Service said in a statement it would consider 'returning to standard procedures' only when it was satisfied that 'unreliable organizations' were not allowed to transport goods and it received suitable compensation.

'Some people have been waiting for more than a week in temperatures of minus 20 Celsius,' said Valdis Trezins, president of Latvijas Auto, which is the national road carriers' association.

'We have been delivering bread and other food to some of the worst-affected drivers and we are trying to do even more,' he told dpa.

'For example we are trying to organize shops so drivers can buy provisions and some toilets and other facilities so they can keep clean.'

So far the truckers have behaved impeccably, despite their frustrations, though local police are worried that those stuck over the festive period may yield to the temptation to have a drink while behind the wheel - even if they are unlikely to drive more than a few metres each day.

'Each day wasted at the border costs haulage companies around 200 euros per truck,' Trezins said. As well as the additional costs faced by the state to control the situation, there is a fear that companies who want goods delivered will switch to hauliers from other countries if they feel Latvian trucks will face lengthy delays.

'It could have a major impact on the economy,' Trezins said. 'But of course it has a big impact on the Russian economy too - it's crazy. Over two years we have organized 170,000 trips to Russia. We had problems with 13 of them. This image in some parts of the press that Latvian truckers are bandidos is not accurate.'

'Maybe there are other reasons. I don't know politics, but maybe there is an element of protectionism,' he said.

The Latvian government now hopes the European Union might be able to help resolve the situation along what is the EU's eastern border. Finance Minister Einars Repse sent a note to Laszlo Kovacs, the European Commissioner for taxation and customs union on December 21 after a note from Foreign Minister Maris Riekstins to the Russian embassy in Riga appeared to have little effect.

Trezins and the truckers he represents hope the European Commission might be able to help resolve the stalemate. Perhaps a conversation between European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin would help, Trezins said.

'Maybe if Mr Barroso gets on the phone and asks 'Hey, Vladimir, what's the problem