Customs threatens hirers
Page 8
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
• The British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association is backing a Customs initiative to fine vehicle rental firms ,E10,000 for repeatedly hiring out vehicles which are used to smuggle tobacco or alcohol.
A rental company will initially receive a written warning if one of its vehicles is used by smugglers, On a third occasion Customs will impose fines of up to £10,000, based on the value of the vehicle or the value of the goods smuggled.
But Diane Barrett, head of Customs' anti-smuggling operation, promises: 'We will not penalise firms which take reasonable steps to avoid hiring vehicles to criminals,"
17 A British driver has been arrested after 48 alleged illegal immigrants were found hiding inside his semi-trailer at Dover last Sunday.
They were found when a sniffer dog alerted Customs officers after the artic disembarked from a Calais-Dover ferry.