UK Border Agency officers in Dover have caught a coach load of passengers from Leicester red-handed as they tried to bring almost 300 kg of tobacco into the country.

The party of 79 people was stopped at 14:50 on 28 December as their coach disembarked a ferry at Dover.

All of the passengers on the Leicester-bound coach were found to be carrying 3 kg each of tobacco. A further 82 kg were left on the coach when they exited the vehicle to be questioned by officers.

In total, 290 kg of hand rolling tobacco was seized from the coach and passengers - which had returned to the UK on a ferry from Belgium.

Passengers travelling back to the UK from a European Union country are allowed to bring back an unlimited amount of tobacco as long as it's for personal consumption and not commercial gain.

In this case, the tobacco was confiscated due to the strong evidence that it was being brought into the UK as part of an organised attempt to avoid paying duty.

Uk Border Agency reported: "The seizure has deprived the coach party of more than £20,000 - the estimated cost of the tobacco - in addition to the profit the gang might have made selling it on the UK black market.

"If the coach smugglers had been successful in their attempt, the Treasury would have lost more than £35,000 in unpaid excise duty.

"A decision was taken not to prosecute the 79 members of the coach party. However, the names of anyone who tries to smuggle tobacco into the UK are added to UK Border Agency's watchlists which alert border officers when smugglers make future journeys in and out of the country."

Carole Upshall, UK Border Agency regional director for ports across the south of England, said: "It is perfectly legitimate to shop in Europe and bring back tobacco for yourself but anyone who smuggles tobacco for commercial gain is effectively stealing from the public purse and from law-abiding taxpayers."