Smuggled beer bound for UK would fill four Olympic pools

Seizures of smuggled beer have almost doubled, with enough to fill four Olympic swimming pools detected by Customs officers.

Latest figures show 9.5 million litres were seized in 2012/13 — saving the taxpayer £600 million — up from just over four million in 2009/10.

Officials claim the increase is down to better performance in targeting smuggled shipments. Illegal beer makes up about 10 per cent of annual sales in the UK, with the level of fraud relatively constant over the last five years.

HM Revenue & Customs said: “Nearly £1 billion has been made available to HMRC to tackle evasion, avoidance and fraud, including over £17 million extra to tackle gangs behind alcohol fraud.”

Beer is being seized “from the back of large articulated lorries at the border through to warehouses, lock-ups, wholesalers and retailers”, said a spokesman.

Tory MP Andrew Griffiths, who chairs the all-party parliamentary beer group, said investing in enforcing borders “saves the Treasury and taxpayer millions”.

Meanwhile, HMRC said about nine per cent of cigarettes sold in Britain in 2010-11 were smuggled, costing the taxpayer £1.2 billion. This was six percentage points lower than in 2006-07.