By JOHN ASKILL
THE Sun yesterday paid a paltry £130 to snap up two cars put
up for auction by Customs chiefs.
And if we can trace their owners and find they have been
unfairly treated, they can have ’em back.
Our team bought the motors as 30 vehicles impounded from
booze cruisers were auctioned off at giveaway prices.
We forked out a mere £70 for a 1991 sky-blue Ford Sierra
LX 1.8 with 32,000 miles on the clock.
Its number plate — H117 BNS — bore a sticker indicating
the owner was from Gwent, South Wales.
Just £60 secured a Nissan Bluebird 1.8 GS four-door saloon.
On the back was the name of a garage in Crickhowell, Gwent,
where it was originally purchased.
The Sun’s Motoring Editor Ken Gibson said both cars were a
steal. He added: “On the forecourt they could reach ten times
those prices.”
The 30 motors fetched a total of just £5,475 at British Car
Auctions’ site in Measham, Leics.
Fourteen were sold for £100 or less. And two — an E-reg
Audi 100 Avant two-litre and a Ford Sierra 1.8L of similar age
— went for £20. Both were in excellent condition.
Highest price was £825 for a 1992 Mercedes 190E.
The Sun attended the auction as part of our Hands Off Our
Booze Cruisers campaign to stop bullying Customs men picking on
cross-Channel shoppers.
We reckon day-trippers stocking up on cheap drink and cigs
are being treated like criminals. And even some Customs
offficers agree that their bosses are targeting booze cruisers
more than drug smugglers.
The cars auctioned yesterday were seized from trippers
accused of breaching unofficial limits on how much booze and
cigs they can bring back for their own use.
Some had been stored for up to two years while owners made
vain appeals for their return. The owners had no say in their
disposal and did not know of the auction.
Prices were so low because Customs chiefs made no attempt to
obtain documentation for the cars. Buyers were told they would
have to apply for a new log-book from the DVLA and arrange MoTs,
insurance and tax.
A Customs spokesman said: “Any money raised at the auction
will go back to taxpayers.”
One car dealer at the sale — open to traders and private
punters — said some motors had high mileages. But he added:
“There were still bargains. Someone is going to make a nice
little earner.
“The worrying thing, though, was that a lot had damage as
if they had been shunted together carelessly in the car
compounds.”
Protest groups claim up to 10,000 vehicles have been
impounded in the last year. And sales firm East Coast Salvage,
of Marks Tey, Essex, runs ads offering “cars lawfully seized
by Customs and Excise”.
A woman whose £6,000 Mondeo was grabbed and sold
condemned the Customs auctions as a disgrace.
Wendy Chapple was held at Dover while bringing in 1,200
cigarettes and 100 pouches of tobacco for her son and pals, who
were with her.
Wendy, 41, of Derby, said: “I feel so angry they are doing
this. I just hope the Sun campaign can change it. It’s
brilliant as you are helping ordinary people like me who
otherwise wouldn’t stand a chance.”
Chancellor Gordon Brown last night ordered officials to study
our dossier of complaints. And our crusade won Tory backing.
Trade spokesman Crispin Blunt said: “I congratulate The Sun
for standing up for free trade.
“The Customs campaign against people going about perfectly
lawful activity has become increasingly outrageous and
arbitrary.”
Tiny loads targeted
100 per cent proof ... e-mail sent by
freight manager Jane Brophy ordering officers to target shoppers
under the limit
Click pic to enlarge
By TOM WORDEN and DUNCAN LARCOMBE
BULLYING Customs chiefs have ordered officers to target
passengers with tiny amounts of booze and cigs UNDER
their guide limits.
A leaked e-mail from a senior manager reveals staff have been
told to seize goods from travellers with fewer than 800
cigarettes or 90 litres of wine.
Last night’s revelations came as Dover officials appeared
to be weakening — just four days into The Sun’s Hands Off
Our Booze Cruises campaign.
The e-mail — headed Cross Channel Smuggling Strategy Sub
Group — was sent by freight manager Jane Brophy to 22 senior
staff.
She wrote: “Ref repeated importation of excise goods below
the guidance levels in walkers, coaches and cars. We have become
aware that large numbers of Bootleggers are now importing small
quantities of excise goods under the guidance levels, on a
regular basis.
“Sols (solicitors) office have informed us that officers
can seize goods that are below the guidance levels.
“Can you make sure this information is passed to all MF
(multi-functional) officers within your area.”
The memo was passed to The Sun by a senior Customs source who
said: “It’s an outrageous policy and most of the officers on
the ground do not want anything to do with it.” Among those to
get the email was Norman Taylor, £47,000-a-year deputy regional
head of Customs and Excise in the South of England.
Under EU rules there is no limit to the amount of tobacco
or alcohol Brits can bring back from the Continent for their own
use or as gifts.
But arrogant Customs bosses have set their own limits which
includes 800 cigarettes, one kilo of tobacco, 110 litres of beer
and 90 litres of wine.
And they are flouting a High Court ruling which bans random
searches.
Finance officer Eileen Hughes, 58, from South London, who was
stocking up in Calais for Christmas, said: “It is outrageous.
They are a law unto themselves and it must be stopped. Thanks to
The Sun for standing up to the bullies.”
A Customs spokesman said yesterday: “If somebody is
smuggling goods they will be liable for seizure no matter how
small.
“We are targeting smugglers who make up to five crossings a
day and bring back under the guideline limits each time.”
Meanwhile a Customs source told The Sun: “Your campaign is
working. Officers at Dover appear to have eased off on
passengers.”
The Sun’s Campaign HQ is still open at the County Hotel
in Townwall Street, Dover. Tell us if you have fallen foul of
the Customs bullies.
