Vodka trucks held in France
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• Two UK hauliers were forced to fly home from the South of France last week leaving behind their trucks and fines totalling £30,000 after innocently becoming embroiled in a dispute over the loads.
Cleveland-based CT Transport and Spaldingbased owner-driver Tony Smith had been contracted to transport vodka between two bonded warehouses in the Algarve, Portugal and Edinburgh. Craig Colkidge, owner of CT Transport, was stopped by Customs at Bayonne and Smith at a service station near Bordeaux where French Customs were carrying out spot checks.
In both cases Customs officers seized the vodka and the trucks, claiming that the paperwork was not in order.
Colledge has been told that he cannot retrieve his truck until he pays £20,000; Smith has been asked for £10,000.
It has since emerged that a third driver was stopped at Dover docks by UK Customs and Excise; the vodka was seized but the
driver, from Ashton European Haulage, was allowed to proceed.
Steve Ashton, owner of the small Canterbury-based firm, reports that Customs "were very suspicious" of the contents of the bottles and of the paperwork.
"When I took the job on I thought I was working for one company because the details were sent to me on their headed paper" says Ashton. "It wasn't until I was stopped that I found out the job was for someone else."
According to Smith the vodka had been moved to Portugal from Holland and was due to be stored in Edinburgh before being sent on to Cyprus. Customs refuses to give any information on the Incident.