MORE than four million illegal cigarettes have been seized at the Port of Purfleet.

A Border Foce dog sniffed out the huge stash of "Winston" cigarettes as it passed through the port in the back of a lorry from Rotterdam.

Had the smuggling attempt proved successful it could have cost the Treasury approximately £1.3m in unpaid duty.

Mark Kennedy, Border Force Assistant Director at Purfleet, said: "The criminals responsible had attempted to conceal the cigarettes behind two pallets of terracotta-style flower pots, but it took Lola, the detector dog, a matter of moments to identify that the contents of the trailer was suspicious.

"Once the two pallets had been removed we found several pallets stacked with Winston Blue cigarettes wrapped in plastic sheeting. Each pallet had a top layer of small flower pots.

"This was a sophisticated smuggling attempt and by stopping the shipment we have starved those responsible of the proceeds of their criminality.

"I would urge anyone tempted by cheap cigarettes and tobacco to think again. The black market cheats honest traders and it is effectively stealing from the public purse."

The huge haul of cigarettes, seized on Wednesday, September 3, is the second in little over three months to have been intercepted at the Port of Purfleet.

In June, Border Force prevented 3.2million cigarettes making it onto the black market in the UK via the port.