GENEVA, Feb 16 (AFP) -- A trucker who ate evidence of breaking Swiss speed limits has paid the price -- a stomach ache from swallowing the discs which recorded his driving, police said Tuesday.

The 34-year-old trucker from the Balkans was stopped for speeding on a highway in the southern canton of Tessin and was found to have driven more than 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) in 18 hours without stop, local police said.

Hunkered down in his cab, the man reportedly gobbled up the paper discs of his truck's tachograph, which records speed and the time driven. He was hospitalised after suffering stomach pains.

The incident posed no serious health consequences, police said, and the driver was fined for the infraction.

Tachographs are intended to ensure that truck drivers do not work overly long hours as part of overall road safety requirements.