Three Bradford men have been jailed for illegally smuggling thousand of pounds of cigarettes into the country.

Customs and Excise officers arrested the trio and a fourth man as they arrived off a flight from Tenerife at Southampton Airport on November 3, 1999.

They were found to be carrying a total of 75,000 cigarettes in six suitcases, avoiding an estimated £13,000 in excise duty.

The ring leader Christopher Edmund Wroe, 45, of Kesteven Road, Bradford, maintained he had nothing to do with the offence.

But he was found guilty at Southampton Crown Court on February 19 this year and was also found to be the organiser of the trip.

At Southampton Crown Court on Monday, he was sentenced to two years imprisonment.

At the same court hearing Alan Watson Woodhead, 30, of Ruffield Side, Wyke, Bradford, was sentenced to six months and Michael Graham Prince, 45, of Thirkleby Royd, Clayton, Bradford, was jailed for four months.

Neil Darran Gill, 32, the fourth member of the gang, from Bradford, was sentenced to 150 hours community service.

Wroe was convicted of a similar offence on March 22 last year after trying to smuggle 39,920 cigarettes through East midlands Airport in 1998. He was sentenced to 180 hours community service.

Nick Roach, HM Customs and Excise officer for the case, said: "The sentences were wholly fair and reflect the level of each individuals' involvement.

"This is a fraud that takes money away from the Treasury, which would otherwise be made available for our communities' benefit."