No rear brake lights

Wonder if anyone can help someone who doesn't have a clue....!

MOT Friday and today discovered there are no rear brake lights. Blulbs on, but zilch when you press the pedal. I've done a search and it seems it could be either a fuse or the brake pedal switch, but being a total novice mechanic I'm a bit lost. Pedal switch is on the brake pedal from what I can ascertain, but my Defender (200TDi, '92 'K') has a metal plate above the pedals which I assume needs to come off to access it. I've taken the fuse cover off in the middle of the dash to expose the fuses and the one it says operates the brake lights is fine so 'assume' that's OK, but read about another one under the bonnet somewhere ?

All help appreciated guys - would really like to get this sorted before 'ticket time' on Friday morning if I can !

Cheers !

switch is on bulkhead side of pedal box ,grab the wires and pull them apart at the join if you connect the 2 wires coming from the bulkhead with a opened split pin etc brake lights should be on if switch is faulty, if no lights check to see one of the wires is 12v live

Ok...I think i understand....(!) So I need to be looking under the bonnet for this ? I know it sounds daft but are there any pictures of this ?

Not that I would decry anything which James suggests, but when you say the bulbs are on, I take it you mean the rear tail lights. In most cases, the rear bulbs are twin filament bulbs, the lower power 6 watt tail lights can still work while the higher power 21 watt filaments might have blown.
To be honest, only a physical examination of each bulb, or a multimeter test will show the state of each filament definitively, it's not unknown for both bulbs to blow, just to lead you up the garden.
Start with the easy things first!

Yes, rest tail lights are on. I have changed the bulb on one side, the drivers is untouched

If you take a look at the picture, you'll see what I mean about a twin filament bulb.



Both must be intact to work.

Will try that - thanks !

Thanks for the earlier replies lads - update.

Well it failed the test but that didn't surprise me. Failed on windscreen washer jet not being present (snapped off) and I didn't even notice (!) New one being collected from LR tomorrow, £7.96 + VAT. Took the top section of dash out today and removed the old one so *should* be an easy fix. Main beam 'tell-tale' light on the instrument binnacle not working I thought was a bit petty - changed the bulbs over to check and made no difference. Any ideas, or any 'usual suspects' for that ? O/S headlamp not aligned properly (again, should be an easy fix). Last but not least was the o/s rear light not working. Changed the bulb and wasn't that, got home after the test and took it all out, wiring was a bloody mess. Tidied that up, soldered together etc and now I have a rear light.

But not a stop light. N/S fine, o/s not. Changed the brake switch as suggested (the old one looked original and was definately past it's best) and that hasn't helped either. Bad connection somewhere ? As before, anywhere a 'usual suspect' may be lurking ?

Thanks again in advance !