Brown offers new deal for booze cruises

Cross-channel booze cruisers are set to receive more lenient treatment if caught with huge hauls of cheap cigarettes and alcohol.

Gordon Brown is said to have agreed to end strict measures such as confiscating cars and their contents from shoppers thought to be sharing their cargoes with friends.

The move would be a retreat by the Chancellor, who ordered tough penalties to combat illegal "smuggling" costing the Treasury billions a year.

Customs officers can seize vehicles and goods if they think travellers plan to sell tobacco or booze on the black market. But this brought claims of people being unfairly picked out.

The European Commission warned Mr Brown of possible legal action which, reports say, has led to his offer of a last-minute compromise.

If this is accepted by Commissioner Frits Bolkestein this week, first-time offenders planning non-profit sales to friends would pay a fine and duty rather than have goods confiscated.