Customs officers have praised The News, Portsmouth, for striking a blow against cross-channel bootleggers.

Readers supplied information on more than 20 suspected smuggling operations by using a telephone hotline as part of the paper’s Stop the Smugglers campaign

Customs officers are now planning a series of raids.

Pubs and clubs where licensees sell bootlegged tobacco, and regular coach trips from Solent ports to France to bring back cheap cigs and booze for sale, were among the operations shopped by News readers.

The paper ran a front-page lead on the success of the campaign and the praise from Customs officers.

In a comment piece, the newspaper congratulated readers for proving that the campaign could save businesses and jobs in a city where bootleggers are blamed for the closure of 30 small shops last year.

The paper said: “If anyone thought our Stop The Smugglers campaign was a waste of time in a country where the romantic Robin Hood ethic still looms large, our report today proves otherwise.”

Do you have a story for us?
Ring the HoldTheFrontPage newsdesk on
01332 291111, x6022, or e-mail us now