Berliner Tageblatt - No 'Angels': Bulgarians shake down Robbie Williams convoy

The transport officers asked the lorry drivers to slip them 500 euros ($587) during a routine traffic check, resorting to Google Translate when the British drivers were unable to understand their request, police commissioner Lyubomir Nikolov told a news conference.

"They even asked those who didn't have cash to go to an ATM," he said.

Bribe-taking is a widespread practice in Bulgaria. But the incident, which happened on Thursday near the capital, Sofia, surprised Williams's tour convoy drivers, who filed a complaint.

Transport Minister Grozdan Karadzhov told local media the two longtime officers had been sacked as a result.

The pair were also detained on Sunday and charged, Sofia deputy prosecutor Desislava Petrova told AFP.

"Robbie Williams is more efficient at fighting corruption than Bulgarian institutions," joked one internet wit in Bulgaria, the poorest country in the European Union.

Road traffic is a "gold mine" for corrupt Bulgarian officials, said Tihomir Bezlov, an organised crime expert at the Centre for the Study of Democracy think tank in Sofia.

Williams, the 51-year-old singer-songwriter known for such hits as "Rock DJ", "Come Undone" and "Angels", played Sofia on Sunday night as part of his "Britpop" tour.

T.Bondarenko--BTB