A former Bradford pub landlord held on drugs charges has pleaded his innocence from a Thai jail.

In a letter to the Telegraph & Argus, Kevin Quill claimed he had never been involved in drugs and was well known for his stance against them.

Mr Quill, 38 - former owner of the Fighting Cock in Preston Street, the Idle Cock and the Diplomat in Sunbridge Road - is being held in Chonburi central prison, Bangkok, accused of possessing amphetamine pills.

Although he now lives in London, he still has business interests in Bradford and Leeds.

In the letter, he said the drugs were discovered within 172 cartons of cigarettes he was bringing back to Britain for a friend.

He wrote: "It was my intention to declare them on entry to the UK. Regular visitors to Thailand get stopped by UK customs regularly."

Mr Quill said the cigarettes had been bought and placed in his living quarters - above a Thai business he is involved in - by members of staff.

He said the packets, which had been in their original plastic wrapping, were placed into his suitcase by a maid where they remained for "two or three days".

On his drive to the airport, Mr Quill and a friend were stopped by police in Pattaya who took him to the local police station, he said. There, he wrote, they began removing the cigarette packets. "They came across one (which they appeared to be looking for) and slid out the carton and repeated this procedure on one pack of cigarettes," he wrote.

"I was not particularly concentrating as, as far as I was concerned, the suitcases contained cigarettes. The police proceeded to do fingertip search around the cartons."

As they emptied out the contents on the table, Mr Quill said the officers shouted "yaa-baa" - the Thai name for the drug.

"How they arrived at this conclusion with no analysis is beyond me.

"Within five minutes this office was full of media -- surprisingly quick would you not say?"

He said none of the other packs was checked and the substance was worth around £80.

And he said: "In the police station, I requested that blood and urine tests be taken. Also I requested that the cartons be fingerprinted. I asked for the UK embassy and a lawyer.

"All the above requests were turned down, without explanation."

He added: "I have never, past, present or future, been involved in drugs. I do not take, supply, sell or transport drugs and I am known by friends in Yorkshire for my stance against drugs.

"With the exception of the cigarettes, which have been dealt with already, I am innocent of all charges."

And he said: "Anybody who knows me, or claims to know me well, will be aware that these allegations are untrue."

Mr Quill said that, because the jury system did not exist in the "complicated" Thai law system, "I will wait and see what happens on the 'possession' charge".

A Foreign Office spokesman said: "The facilities at these jails are very primitive indeed."

But he added: "Prisoners can move to British jails under a transfer system but many do not take advantage of this as there is quite a relaxed regime in Thai prisons."

He confirmed that the jury system did not exist in Thailand, where verdicts were made by a single judge sitting in court.